The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team lost a 3-2 heartbreaker in overtime Saturday night at the Gryphon Centre in Guelph, Ontario. It was the second close loss in as many nights, following a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Gryphons the night before.
The silver lining under this cloud was that the Wolves collected a point for the OT loss, keeping the pack one point ahead of Waterloo for third place in the OUA West Division standings.
Guelph opened the scoring at 14:15 of the first period when Andrew Merrett put one past Lakehead goaltender Alex Dupuis for the only goal of the opening stanza. It was a tightly played contest right from the start, with Lakehead holding a slight edge in shots at 10-9 heading into the intermission.
The Thunderwolves owned the second period, scoring the only two goals of the period to give Lakehead a 2-1 lead heading into the final frame. Ryan Magill tied it up at 8:29, beating Guelph netminder Andrew Loverock on a goal assisted by Brennan Menard and Victor Anilane. The same line combined for the go-ahead goal at 16:30, this time with Anilane scoring and assists going to Menard and Magill. The Wolves once again held a slim 11-10 shots on goal advantage in the period.
The Thunderwolves luck changed late in the third frame, however, when Justin Gvora tied the game at 2 apiece with only 7:11 left in regulation.
The game went into overtime, but Guelph pulled out the win when Gryphons defenceman Patrick Campbell scored at 2:09 for the 3-2 victory and a weekend sweep. The game ended with Guelph narrowly outshooting Lakehead 33-32 in total.
Lakeheads OUA record drops to 14-8-2, good for 30 points and third place in the West
Division. Waterloo and Brock sit only one and two points behind, however, so the remaining four games in the regular season are crucial for valuable points and playoff seeding.
The Wolves will be back at the Fort William Gardens for the final home games of the regular season next weekend versus York.