The Lakehead Thunderwolves were edged 4-3 by the Western Ontario Mustangs at Thompson Arena in London on Friday night.
The Wolves and Mustangs each scored a power play goal in the first period, one in which Western Ontario outshot Lakehead 15-7, but ended with the Wolves and Mustangs deadlocked at one.
Lakehead got on the board first when Jake Carrick fired the puck past Mustangs goalie Josh Unice after a nice set-up by Mike Hammond and Mike Quesnele at the 14:03 mark.
Western Ontario tied it up with only 25 seconds remaining in the period when David Corrente unleashed a blast from the top of the face-off circle that snuck through the pads of Lakehead netminder Jeff Bosch.
The Mustangs carried the momentum of that late goal into the early part of the second period, and Steven Reese put Western Ontario up 2-1 just over a minute into the middle stanza.
Five minutes later, Zach Harden scored on a defection while the Mustangs were on the power play to widen the lead to 3-1.
Lakehead controlled the majority of the play for the rest of the second period, and outshot the Mustangs 17-10 during that 20-minute span.
Hammond cut into the slot from the left-side boards and rifled the puck over Unices blocker to narrow the margin to 3-2 with just under seven minutes to go. Assists on the goal went to Luke Maw and Mitch Fillman.
Hammond then tied the game at 3-3 when he slapped home Keith Grondins rebound with just over two minutes remaining in the period. Mike Quesnele collected the other assist.
Western Ontario broke the tie just over two minutes into the third period when Adam McKee tipped the puck past Bosch from the edge of the crease after a nice feed from Daniel Erlich.
Despite several good chances for Lakehead, the rest of the game remained scoreless and the Mustangs held on for the 4-3 win.
Lakehead outshot Western Ontario16-10 in the final frame, and 40-35 on the game.
The Wolves will travel to St. Catharines next, where they will tangle with the Brock Badgers on Saturday night.