The Lakehead Thunderwolves were clipped 4-3 by the Laurier Golden Hawks at the Sun Life Arena in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario on Saturday night.
The Wolves came out of the gate quickly and took a 1-0 lead when defenceman Jay Gilbert blasted the puck past Lauriers freshman goalie Christopher Festarini just 4:50 into the game, with Mike Hammond and Kelin Ainsworth assisting.
Hammond later gave Lakehead a 2-0 lead by scoring in the final minute of the first period after being set up by defencemen Luke Maw and Mitch Fillman.
Laurier responded with three straight goals in the second period, the first of which came at 4:49 when Kyle Morrison dented the twine behind Lakehead netminder Jeff Bosch.
Just over two minutes later, Matt Provost tied the game when the Golden Hawks had the man-advantage, and then Ryan Shipley gave Laurier a 3-2 lead at the 12:19 mark.
Defenceman Nathan Bruyere replied for the Wolves with a drive that eluded Festarini less than two minutes later to tie the game up at 3-3 heading into the third. Forwards Jason Grecica and Dylan Butler recorded the assists.
Greg Cerilli put Laurier ahead at 5:08 into the final frame, and the Hawks held on the rest of the way to take the 4-3 win.
Lakehead outshot Laurier 35-31 for the night.
The Wolves will return home for a two-game series against the York Lions at the Fort William Gardens next weekend.