The Lakehead Thunderwolves were defeated by the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs 4-1 Wednesday night in a cross-border non-conference clash Wednesday night at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. Penalties proved costly for the Thunderwolves, with Lakehead drawing 8 of 10 penalties in the game, and UMD scoring 3 times on the powerplay.
UMD carried the play in the first with the Thunderwolves picking up the tempo at the end of the period. UMD scored early at the 3:17 mark on a goal by Marco Peluso. UMD struck again at 16:08 on a nice powerplay goal by Junior Lessard, assisted by Tim Stapleton and Beau Geisler. The Thunderwolves got on the scoreboard at the 19:47 mark, on a goal by Matt Kenny, set up by a beautiful pass from Troy Kahler. UMD outshot Lakehead 12-6 in the first.
Penalties proved costly in the second for the Thunderwolves as Jesse Unklesbay scored on the powerplay at the 2:57 mark, assited by Drew Otten and Steve Czech. UMD struck again on the powerplay at the 8:54 mark, on a hard blast by Beau Geisler, assisted by Tim Stapleton and Jon Francisco. At this point, Lakehead switched goalkeepers, putting in Grant McCune for starter Corey McEachran. UMD controlled play for the rest of the period, with McCune making some nice stops. The Bulldogs outshot the Thunderwolves 17-4 in the second.
The third period saw the Thunderwolves pick up the play territorially, but they weren't able to develop this into enough shots on net and good scoring chances. The Thunderwolves had a powerplay at the end of the period and pulled McCune from the net to give them the extra attacker, but UMD goaltender Eric Reichsmuth made two nice saves to end the game. UMD outshot Lakehead 12-5 in the third period.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said penalties hurt the Thunderwolves, but that the game was a good learning experience for his team.
"When penalties are 8-2 against you, it's difficult, but we didn't execute well on the penalty kill. I think the biggest difference between the two teams is the level of the conditioning, but we knew that coming in, so we still have work to do in that area. But, I was really happy with our play in the third period, and with the play of our fourth line of Kahler, Adduno, and Magill and of defenseman Matt Kenny."
UMD outshot Lakehead 41 to 15 in the game.
The Thunderwolves record is now 2-2-1 in non-conference play, while UMD raised its non-conference record to 1-1-1. The Thunderwolves begin their regular season OUA play against arch-rivals and defending Canadian champions University of Western Ontario Mustangs Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.