Coming off a home sweep of the Brock Badgers, the CIS No. 4 Lakehead Thunderwolves men's hockey team will take to the road to face another top tier competitor in the No. 10 Waterloo Warriors, Friday and Saturday at the Columbia Icefields Arena. Faceoff for both games goes at 7:30pm.
Bryan Wyatt will have the call as the series is broadcast live on Rock94 FM in Thunder Bay and online at www.rock94.com.
Head coach Joel Scherban's Thunderwolves (7-0-1 overall; 5-0-1 OUA) enter the weekend on a mini two-game winning streak and have recorded at least one point in each of their eight games this season. Meanwhile, the Warriors (6-3-0 overall; 4-1-1 OUA) will be looking to bounce back against Lakehead after losing their last contest against the UOIT Ridgebacks. The loss dropped them to third place in the OUA West Division, two points back of Lakehead and the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Warriors will also be looking for some revenge in the series after Lakehead eliminated them in the first round of the 2009 OUA playoffs.
"After a tough series with Brock we are expecting another tough series in Waterloo," says coach Scherban. "Waterloo has gotten off to a quick start and once again is competing for first place in the West division."
Head to Head
Through their 38 all-time meetings, Lakehead has had Waterloo's number, going 24-10-2 against their divisional rivals and sweeping them 4-0 in their two playoff series to date. Goal-scoring has been relatively even considering the huge win-loss separation with the Thunderwolves outscoring the Warriors 115-106 in the regular season and 143-114 overall.
The Wolves faced the Warriors six times in 2008-09, going an even 3-3-0, but winning two of three on the road at the Columbia Icefields Arena.
Lakehead Thunderwolves (7-0-1 overall; 5-0-1 OUA)
The Thunderwolves have been an offensive powerhouse this season, while showing their defensive abilities in shuting out Brock last Friday night. Their 35 goals (5.83 GFA) in six OUA games is tops in the conference, while their 17 goals against (2.83 GAA) ranks third best in their division.
Leading the charge of late has been freshman forward Victor Anilane. The big Swede is coming off a four goal, one assist weekend against Brock and has five goals and six assists for 11 points on the year, while leading the conference in regular season scoring. Brock McPherson leads the team in overall scoring with five goals, eight assists and 13 points and will look to impose his presence against the Warriors.
Six other Thunderwolves are averaging one or more points per games, led by the playmaking of Andy Hyvarinen (one goal, eights assists), and the goal scoring of Scott Dobben (five goals, four assists), Kris Hogg (five goals, three assists), and Adam Sergerie (five goals, three assists). Sergerie, to his credit, has already exceeded his 2008-09 goal (four) and point (seven) totals.
Mark Soares and Dan Speer both have three goals and five assists on the year and have been effective contributors for their team.
On the blueline, Ryan Baird has continued his strong offensive pace and has two goals and five assists on the year. In his return from off season surgery, Pierre-Marc Guilbault has been stellar defensively while scoring four goals with one assist. He had his three-game goal-scoring streak snapped on Saturday.
Andy Zulyniak (five assists) and Kalvin Sagert (one goal, four assists) have been great two-way players for the Wolves, while captain Jordan Smith scored his first goal of the season with a powerplay marker on Saturday and has added three assists and countless hits on the year.
In net, junior Kyle Moir is the established number one goaltender with an unblemished 6-0-0 record, a 2.33 GAA and a 0.909 SV%. He will look to continue his strong play against the Warriors after shuting out Brock on Friday. Alex Dupuis will be the backup and has seen time in three games, posting a 1-0-1 record.
Lakehead results
Oct. 24 vs Brock W 4-3
Oct. 23 vs Brock W 4-0
Oct. 17 at UOIT L 5-6 OTS
Oct. 16 at UOIT W 9-5
Oct. 10 vs York W 9-2
Oct. 9 vs York W 4-1
Oct. 3 vs Guelph W 4-1
Oct. 2 vs Guelph W 7-3
Waterloo Warriors (6-3-0 overall; 4-1-1 OUA)
Head coach Brian Bourque has his team playing well in the first month of conference competition as the Warriors have shown their ability to win close games and to stay in every contest. Through six OUA games, the team has scored 23 times (3.83 GFA) while allowing 19 goals (3.16 GAA).
Offensively, the team will count on right winger Shane Hart who leads the team with five goals, adding two assists. Forwards Chris Ray (two goals, five assists), Mark Hartman (three goals, four assists), and Jarrett Schnurr (two goals, five assists) also have seven points for Waterloo and will look to create havoc in the Lakehead end.
On the blueline, the Warriors have received very little offense with the big exception of 6'5" Steve Whitely who has four goals and two assists on the season.
Sophomore goaltender Keaton Hartigan is the starter for Waterloo and has posted a 3-1-1 record with a 3.12 GAA and a 0.902 SV%. His backup, John Zelenbaba, has been solid in limited action, with a 1-0-0 record, a 2.00 GAA and a 0.952 SV% in one game.
Waterloo results
Oct. 24 at UOIT L 2-4
Oct. 23 vs Guelph W 4-2
Oct. 16 at Brock L 3-4 OTS
Oct. 15 vs Laurier W 5-4 OT
Oct. 10 at Windsor W 5-4
Oct. 9 vs Western W 4-1
Oct. 3 at Colgate L 3-6
Sept. 26 at Ottawa W 6-4
Sept. 25 at Concordia W 6-3
Sept. 18 at US NTDP L 0-8