February 25, 2008
BROCK WINS IN OT AND WILL NOW FACE LAKEHEAD IN SEMIFINAL ACTION
Brock 6, Western 5 OT
The first period witnessed an aggressive Western Mustang team control the play. Western managed to create an abundance of scoring chances putting Brock goaltender Matt Harpwood (Welland, ON) to the test. With persistence Patrick Ouellet (Baie-Comeau, QC) would eventually but Western in the lead 1-0. Brock would run into penalty trouble, and Western?s power play would once again sting the Badgers with a blast from Kevin Richardson (South Surrey, BC) extending the Mustang?s lead heading into the dressing room.
Brock responded in the second period. J.J. Martin (Thorold, ON) would
strike first bringing the Badgers within one. Brennan Giroux (Charlie
Lake, BC) would snipe the top shelf to tie the game 2-2. At the 6:11 of the second Martin would deflect a shot to give the Badgers the first lead of the game 3-2. Western was able to slow Brock?s fury as Richardson would mark his second of the game to tie things up 3-3. The
play continued to be a wide open expression of offense has Nathan
Hooper (Hamilton, ON) buried the puck on a very sharp angle to give
the Badgers a 4-3 lead. A minute later Jonathan Labelle (Prevost, QC)
would find the puck in a scramble to score Brock?s 5th goal of the
period. Before the horn sounded Western would once again make it a one
goal game going into the third 5-4.
In the third period both teams both teams tightened up defensively
stopping the scoring charade of extending on. It would be at the 12:20
marker that Richardson would complete his hat trick and for the second
game in a row send these to rivals into overtime
With confidence gained from game two?s win, Brock moved the puck well
freeing up Captain Ryan Del Monte to score the game winner and lead
his team to the OUA semi-finals.
Lakehead 7, Laurier 3
Lakehead netminder Chris Whitley and assistant captain Tobias Whelan led their No. 3 Thunderwolves to a very tough 7-3 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks Sunday night before a big crowd at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The win gives Lakehead a 2-1 series win and they now advance to the OUA West Finals against the Brock Badgers beginning on Wednesday night in St. Catharines.
Whitley was spectacular for the second night in a row; particularly in the third period when the Wolves, who took a lot of penalties, were under constant pressure from the Hawks. Laurier outshot the Wolves 18-7 in the third; and Whitley was simply a wall in the Lakehead goal. Although he allowed six goals, Laurier netminder Jeff MacDougald still made some excellent saves in the game.
Whelan played one of his best games for the Wolves; scoring a natural hat trick for the Wolves in the second period; but also playing incredible defensive hockey against Laurier's talented forwards. Mike Wehrstedt played another great game for the Wolves, and was probably the best forward for the Wolves in the series. Wehrstedt picked up a goal with the other tallies coming from Andrew Brown, Mark Soares, and Brock McPherson. Brown and McPherson also picked up one assist each. Freshman forward Kris Hogg played a fantastic two-way game; picking up three assists while defenseman Matt Jacques looked back in form with two assists.
Craig Voakes and Matt Grennier led the Hawks with a goal and an assist each. Jean-Michel Rizk scored the other Laurier goal. Mark Voakes played a good game for the Hawks; and was dangerous each time on the ice. Defenseman Adam Maccarone also played a good game for Laurier.
Laurier outshot Lakehead 33-26 on the night. Laurier had plenty of powerplay opportunities for the second night in a row but the Lakehead PK unit and Whitley were sharp and the Hawks only got one goal with the man advantage (1-9). Lakehead was 2-5 on the powerplay.
Lakehead is now 2-1 in OUA playoff action (25-5-1 OUA overall) while Laurier finishes 3-3 in the OUA playoffs (19-12-3 OUA overall).
The first period was very fast paced; much more fluid hockey than on Saturday night. Lakehead got on the board first when captain Andrew Brown was set up beautifully by Kris Hogg at 2:22 on the powerplay. The other assist went to Matt Jacques. The Wolves put on pressure in the first half of the period but the Hawks picked up their play around the halfway mark and were rewarded when Craig Voakes scored a beautiful goal at 12:58; splitting the Lakehead defensemen with his speed and then beating Whitley with a nice deke. The assists went to Tyler Grover and Nick Vergeer. The Wolves Whitley made a big save right after; robbing Vergeer with a big flashing glove save. The Wolves stormed right back up the ice and Laurier's MacDougald made a huge save off Dan Speer. Shots were 13-6 Lakehead in the first.
The Wolves exploded in the second period for four goals; beginning with Soares at 4:10, Whelan's first at 5:02, then Whelan's second at 8:02; a shorthanded marker followed by his third at 14:51 on the powerplay. The Wolves were very efficient as they scored four goals on six shots on net as they were outshot 9-6 in the second.
The third period was the Whitley show as the Lakehead netminder made big save after big save. However, the Hawks got on the board early on the powerplay when Grennier scored at the 55 second mark. Laurier kept up the pressure and scored again at 7:03 on a nice shot by Jean-Michel Rizk through a crowd. It seemed like the Hawks comeback was well underway but Mike Wehrstedt pounced on the Hawks defense after the ensuing faceoff and intercepted the puck in the Laurier zone and blasted the puck past MacDougald for the unassisted marker at 7:11. This was a turning point in the game.
The Hawks thought they got another goal but the referee said it did not go in. Laurier kept up the pressure but could not solve Whitley. With 4:25 left; Lakehead took a penalty; giving the Hawks another powerplay. Laurier coach Kelly Nobes decided to pull MacDougald from the Hawks goal; to have a 6-on-4 man advantage and the Hawks proceeded to bombard the Lakehead goal but again could not beat Whitley. The Wolves killed off the penalty and Laurier briefly put MacDougald back in the net but then pulled him again. However, Lakehead's Brock McPherson put the game away with an empty net marker at 19:21; with Wolves goalie Whitley capping off his night with an assist on the goal. Shots on goal in the third were 18-7 for Laurier.
The first period witnessed an aggressive Western Mustang team control the play. Western managed to create an abundance of scoring chances putting Brock goaltender Matt Harpwood (Welland, ON) to the test. With persistence Patrick Ouellet (Baie-Comeau, QC) would eventually but Western in the lead 1-0. Brock would run into penalty trouble, and Western?s power play would once again sting the Badgers with a blast from Kevin Richardson (South Surrey, BC) extending the Mustang?s lead heading into the dressing room.
Brock responded in the second period. J.J. Martin (Thorold, ON) would
strike first bringing the Badgers within one. Brennan Giroux (Charlie
Lake, BC) would snipe the top shelf to tie the game 2-2. At the 6:11 of the second Martin would deflect a shot to give the Badgers the first lead of the game 3-2. Western was able to slow Brock?s fury as Richardson would mark his second of the game to tie things up 3-3. The
play continued to be a wide open expression of offense has Nathan
Hooper (Hamilton, ON) buried the puck on a very sharp angle to give
the Badgers a 4-3 lead. A minute later Jonathan Labelle (Prevost, QC)
would find the puck in a scramble to score Brock?s 5th goal of the
period. Before the horn sounded Western would once again make it a one
goal game going into the third 5-4.
In the third period both teams both teams tightened up defensively
stopping the scoring charade of extending on. It would be at the 12:20
marker that Richardson would complete his hat trick and for the second
game in a row send these to rivals into overtime
With confidence gained from game two?s win, Brock moved the puck well
freeing up Captain Ryan Del Monte to score the game winner and lead
his team to the OUA semi-finals.
Lakehead 7, Laurier 3
Lakehead netminder Chris Whitley and assistant captain Tobias Whelan led their No. 3 Thunderwolves to a very tough 7-3 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks Sunday night before a big crowd at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The win gives Lakehead a 2-1 series win and they now advance to the OUA West Finals against the Brock Badgers beginning on Wednesday night in St. Catharines.
Whitley was spectacular for the second night in a row; particularly in the third period when the Wolves, who took a lot of penalties, were under constant pressure from the Hawks. Laurier outshot the Wolves 18-7 in the third; and Whitley was simply a wall in the Lakehead goal. Although he allowed six goals, Laurier netminder Jeff MacDougald still made some excellent saves in the game.
Whelan played one of his best games for the Wolves; scoring a natural hat trick for the Wolves in the second period; but also playing incredible defensive hockey against Laurier's talented forwards. Mike Wehrstedt played another great game for the Wolves, and was probably the best forward for the Wolves in the series. Wehrstedt picked up a goal with the other tallies coming from Andrew Brown, Mark Soares, and Brock McPherson. Brown and McPherson also picked up one assist each. Freshman forward Kris Hogg played a fantastic two-way game; picking up three assists while defenseman Matt Jacques looked back in form with two assists.
Craig Voakes and Matt Grennier led the Hawks with a goal and an assist each. Jean-Michel Rizk scored the other Laurier goal. Mark Voakes played a good game for the Hawks; and was dangerous each time on the ice. Defenseman Adam Maccarone also played a good game for Laurier.
Laurier outshot Lakehead 33-26 on the night. Laurier had plenty of powerplay opportunities for the second night in a row but the Lakehead PK unit and Whitley were sharp and the Hawks only got one goal with the man advantage (1-9). Lakehead was 2-5 on the powerplay.
Lakehead is now 2-1 in OUA playoff action (25-5-1 OUA overall) while Laurier finishes 3-3 in the OUA playoffs (19-12-3 OUA overall).
The first period was very fast paced; much more fluid hockey than on Saturday night. Lakehead got on the board first when captain Andrew Brown was set up beautifully by Kris Hogg at 2:22 on the powerplay. The other assist went to Matt Jacques. The Wolves put on pressure in the first half of the period but the Hawks picked up their play around the halfway mark and were rewarded when Craig Voakes scored a beautiful goal at 12:58; splitting the Lakehead defensemen with his speed and then beating Whitley with a nice deke. The assists went to Tyler Grover and Nick Vergeer. The Wolves Whitley made a big save right after; robbing Vergeer with a big flashing glove save. The Wolves stormed right back up the ice and Laurier's MacDougald made a huge save off Dan Speer. Shots were 13-6 Lakehead in the first.
The Wolves exploded in the second period for four goals; beginning with Soares at 4:10, Whelan's first at 5:02, then Whelan's second at 8:02; a shorthanded marker followed by his third at 14:51 on the powerplay. The Wolves were very efficient as they scored four goals on six shots on net as they were outshot 9-6 in the second.
The third period was the Whitley show as the Lakehead netminder made big save after big save. However, the Hawks got on the board early on the powerplay when Grennier scored at the 55 second mark. Laurier kept up the pressure and scored again at 7:03 on a nice shot by Jean-Michel Rizk through a crowd. It seemed like the Hawks comeback was well underway but Mike Wehrstedt pounced on the Hawks defense after the ensuing faceoff and intercepted the puck in the Laurier zone and blasted the puck past MacDougald for the unassisted marker at 7:11. This was a turning point in the game.
The Hawks thought they got another goal but the referee said it did not go in. Laurier kept up the pressure but could not solve Whitley. With 4:25 left; Lakehead took a penalty; giving the Hawks another powerplay. Laurier coach Kelly Nobes decided to pull MacDougald from the Hawks goal; to have a 6-on-4 man advantage and the Hawks proceeded to bombard the Lakehead goal but again could not beat Whitley. The Wolves killed off the penalty and Laurier briefly put MacDougald back in the net but then pulled him again. However, Lakehead's Brock McPherson put the game away with an empty net marker at 19:21; with Wolves goalie Whitley capping off his night with an assist on the goal. Shots on goal in the third were 18-7 for Laurier.
