Weekend Sweep for Thunderwolves over Paladins
#LSN_Sports #LSN_Thunderwolves Austin McDonald
THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO - October 28, 2018 (LSN) For the second night in a row, the Thunderwolves held off a late charge from the Royal Military College and skated away with a hard-earned 4-2 victory, giving Lakehead a weekend sweep of the Paladins.
The start of the game was delayed 15 minutes as the fire alarm in the Fort William Gardens sounded just as the teams came onto the ice, but when the 1.799 fans in attendance were given the all-clear signal and allowed to return inside, they were treated to some very competitive hockey.
RMC took advantage off an odd-man rush 11:08 into the match when Rhett Wilcox finished off a tic-tac-toe play with a snap shot that eluded Wolves’ goalie Nic Renyard on the glove side.
Aaron Wesley-Chisel evened the score at 17:20 when he pinched in from the point on a Lakehead power play and knocked Dylan Butler’s rebound past Paladins’ netminder Brad Van Schubert.
41 seconds later, Austin McDonald scored from the edge of the crease when he waited just long enough to force Van Schubert to make the first move and then beat him on the short side. Jonathon Masters and Cooper Leitch were credited with the assists.
Daniel Del Paggio got the only goal of the second period when he capitalized on a rebound off Dillon Donnelly’s point shot to put the Wolves up 3-1 at the 6:45 mark.
RMC’s Liam Stagg narrowed the gap to 3-2 at 15:35 of the third when he scored from the doorstep, and the Paladins continued to apply the pressure in the latter stages of the final frame. But Renyard held strong in the Wolves’ goal until Sam Schutt iced the game with an empty-netter after receiving a nice feed from McDonald with just 17 ticks left on the clock.
For the night, Lakehead went 1-for-4 on the power play while holding RMC to 0-for-6 with the man advantage.
The final tally for shots on goal was 36-26 for the Thunderwolves.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1 Austin McDonald, Lakehead
2 Nic Renyard, Lakehead
3 Daniel Del Paggio, Lakehead
With the victory, the Wolves OUA record improves to 4-2 and to 8-3 overall.
The Thunderwolves will embark on a three-game road trip beginning in Guelph this Thursday, followed by a pair of games at Toronto on Friday and Saturday
Friday Lakehead downs RMC
Jordan_King
The Lakehead Thunderwolves held off a feisty RMC squad and came away with a 4-3 victory over the Paladins before a crowd of 2.148 at the Fort William Gardens on Friday night.
Lakehead cashed in on a power play opportunity when Caleb Boman fired a wrister from the top of the circle that beat Paladins’ goalie Brad Van Schubert low on the glove side midway through the first, with Josh Laframboise and Jordan King assisting on the only goal of the period.
Dexter Kuczek scored from the edge of the crease early in the second with Dylan Butler and Callum Fryer assisting, giving the Wolves a 2-0 lead that held up until the end of the period thanks to some big saves by Lakehead netminder Devin Green.
RMC’s Andrew MacDonald caught a rebound off the back boards just nine seconds into the third to get the Paladins on the score sheet, but King replied for Lakehead on a goalmouth scramble 28 seconds later with Laframboise and King getting the helpers.
Johnathon Masters’ slap shot from the point on another Lakehead power play gave the Wolves a seemingly comfortable 4-1 lead at the 1:33 mark of the final frame, with Boman and King collecting the assists.
The Paladins did not go away quietly, however, and a deflection by Rhett Wilcox while RMC held the man-advantage cut the Wolves lead to 4-2 at the 5:28 mark.
RMC’s MacDonald got his second goal of the game on a shorty by beating Green top shelf with a wicked backhander at 17:02 to narrow the gap to 4-3.
The Wolves tightened up defensively the rest of the way and held on to take the win.
In the penalty-filled affair, Lakehead went 2-for-7 on the power play while RMC went 1-for-9.
Total shots on goal in the game were 38-32 in favor of the Thunderwolves.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1 Jordan King, Lakehead
2 Dexter Kuczek, Lakehead
3 Alex MacDonald, RMC
By: John Payetta
Manager of Operations and Communications
Lakehead University Thunderwolves Hockey