The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team will host the Guelph Gryphons for a pair of games at the Fort William Gardens this weekend. Game times are 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday nights.
Last Time Out
The Thunderwolves split a road series at Laurier last weekend, winning 3-1 on Friday before bowing out 3-2 the next night. Saturdays loss to the Golden Hawks snapped a 7-game winning streak for Lakehead.
Guelph lost two close contests; a 5-4 overtime decision at home to Western Ontario on Thursday, followed by another 5-4 overtime loss to Waterloo on Saturday once again on home ice. Despite the two setbacks, the Gryphons were able to pick up 2 points on the weekend for losing both games in OT.
Series History
Lakehead is 21-4-3 all-time versus Guelph, but two of those losses to the Gryphons came last season. The Thunderwolves hosted Guelph at the Fort William Gardens last October, and dominated the Gryphons at home by scores of 5-1 and 8-2.
When the two teams met again in Guelph last January, it was the Gryphons that recorded the weekend sweep, albeit by much closer scores of 2-1 and 3-2, with the latter result coming in overtime.
About the Gryphons
Guelph is lead by fifth-year senior centreman Zach Lillie, the teams top scorer. Sophomore James Merrett and senior Edward Gale are also talented forward that have the knack for finding the net.
The Gryphons goaltending duties are handled by a pair of sophomores with OHL pedigrees. Cody St. Jacques has logged more minutes between the pipes so far this season, but Andrew Loverock has posted more impressive numbers with a.932 save percentage and a 2.20 goals against average.
Leading the Way
Lakeheads Matt Caria has been leading the OUA in scoring for most of the season, and is still leading the league with 19 points in OUA matches. Carias line-mate Trevor Gamache leads the league in goals with 8, and is fifth in scoring with 14 points.
That scoring punch has helped propel the Wolves to a tie for the lead in the OUA West Division with Western Ontario, although the Mustangs do have two games in hand over Lakehead.