The Lakehead Thunderwolves were downed 5-1 by the Western Ontario Mustangs at the Thompson Arena in London, Ontario on Saturday night.
Western Ontario got on the board early when Daniel Erlich jammed a rebound past Lakehead goaltender Jeff Bosch just 2:04 into the game. Luke Maw replied for the Wolves when he beat Mustangs goalie Josh Unice with a hard shot at the 5:47 to tie the game at 1-1, and that was the way the first period ended.
The Mustangs stormed out of the gate in the second period when Stefan Salituro skated right through the Lakehead defense and snapped the puck past Bosch on the glove side just six seconds into the middle frame.
Zach Harden extended Westerns lead to 3-1 when he slid the puck under Bosch at 6:45 to round out the scoring for the second period.
Kyle De Coste put the game away for the Mustangs with two goals in the third period, the first coming off a blast from the high slot that sailed over Boschs shoulder on the blocker side at 4:47. His second marker came on the power play at 13:38 when he walked in all alone and scored on a nice shot that eluded Bosch on the far side to give Western Ontario the 5-1 win.
The Mustangs outshot the Thunderwolves 33-26 on the night.
Lakeheads OUA record now stands at 13-4-1, which puts the Thunderwolves just one point behind the first-place Ryerson Rams. The Wolves return home next weekend to take on Ryerson in a showdown for first place in the OUA West Division.