Late charge falls short for hockey Wolves

They dug an early grave, filled it most of the way to the top with a spirited third period charge, but when all was said and done six or seven minutes of solid play on Saturday night did not equal victory for the Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Coach Joel Scherban’s troops, down 5-1 five minutes into the third, managed to pull within a single goal with just over two minutes to play, but an empty netter in the final minute by Laurier’s Paul Bradley thwarted the comeback hopes and the visiting Golden Hawks (6-2-1) went on to a 7-4 win to earn a weekend split.

Scherban, who would not point fingers at anyone in particular, including a shaky Kyle Moir in the LU net, instead gave a collective thumbs down to his entire team for their willingness to coast along and hope good things happened.

“Our team as a whole didn’t show up tonight. We had maybe three or four guys who competed for the whole 60 minutes, and other than that, we didn’t have guys show up,” said a subdued Scherban, whose team fell to 6-3-1 on the season and picked up its first home-ice loss in the process.

“We need to be better in net, we need to be better on defence and we need to be better on forward. We had all kinds of breakdowns, and guys were lazy and out of position and watching pucks. We didn’t execute at all night and that’s why they scored (seven) goals.”

Not that Kelly Nobes was any happier behind the Laurier bench. Nobes, who is awaiting the OUA’s suspension decision on the gross misconduct he picked up on Friday night chastising referee Andrew Brewer, following him around the ice at game's conclusion to discuss what he deemed one-sided officiating, said things were equally frustrating on Saturday, despite picking up the victory.

“Today was not much different,” Nobes said when asked if he was happy to fly home with two points in hand. “The outcome was different, but the issue I spoke of yesterday was pretty much the same. Really, it was. There’s still that double standard and it existed again tonight. (The ref) gives them opportunities to get back into the game in the second period and again in the third. We knew it was coming. It needs to be looked at.”

The Wolves were trailing 2-0 midway through the second when Eric Vastamaki first penalized Ryan Bernardi and then 50 seconds later sent Kyle Van De Bospoort to the box, setting up a 1:10 two-man advantage for Lakehead.

It took less than a minute for Brock McPherson to score, cutting the Laurier lead in half and pulling his team back into contention. But even ground, as it would prove to be all night long, was just out of reach, tantalizingly close yet oh so far away.

Clinton Pettapiece’s one-handed effort as he fell past Moir’s glove side at 16:52 of the second made it 3-1, and by the time the third period rolled around, it appeared the Wolves had forgotten any breaks they’d been given. In quick succession - 17 seconds apart, in fact - Jeff Borrows and Mitch Good had the Golden Hawks up 5-1 and seemingly in complete control.

But when a team scores 10 times the night before, virtually no lead is safe, and the Wolves set out to prove the point in the final stanza.

Scott Dobben went five-hole on Jeff MacDougald to pull the Wolves to within three at 9:56 of the third. Two minutes later it was Victor Anilane’s turn. The Swedish forward took a lead pass off the stick of charging stay-at-home defender Mitch Maunu and fired a wrist shot high on MacDougald and into the net.

With the crowd screaming in unison sensing a comeback for the ages, and two more Laurier players in the box, Kris Hogg responded with his second of the season and it was 5-4 with 136 seconds to play.

At least it looked like two were in the box. After the goal, the on-ice officials ruled the first Laurier penalty had been served, allowing the second Laurier player to return to the ice in an even-strength situation.

Moir left for an extra attacker with a minute remaining on the Fort William Gardens' aging clock, but the offense ran out of steam and Bradley’s shot down the length of the ice easily found the back of the net and put the game away.

Fourteen seconds later, with Moir back between the pipes, Bradley notched a meaningless goal to wrap up the scoring.

Despite his officiating concerns, Nobes said there was plenty to like about how his team performed.

“We had a better game tonight. We were happy with the game we played. We gave up one odd-man rush I believe tonight, and we were more focused on some of the defensive aspects of our game.

Pettapiece, who had a goal and two assists, said it was a good feeling getting the win on the heels of Friday’s embarrassing 10-4 defeat.

“We had to bounce back after last night. It was a couple of bad bounces, we lost our composure and one thing leads to another. But we definitely came out tonight and the whole team played a great game,” Pettapiece said.

“They’re a good team, but we just kind of tried to shake it off and today’s a new day. We know we’re a good team too.”

FIRST PERIOD
Scoring:.1. Laurier, Borrows 4 (Pettapiece, Magistrale) 18:07. Penalties: Rizk LAU (hooking) 1:29, S. Alphonso LAK (cross checking) 7:06, Bellows LAU, Welsh LAK (unsportsmanlike conduct) 13:20.

SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Laurier, Bellows 3 (Gauthier, Rizk) 4:26. 3. Lakehead, McPherson 6 (Speer, Guilbault) 10:08 pp. 4. Laurier, Pettapiece 2 (Galbraith, Bernardi) 16:52. Penalties: Bernardi LAU (roughing) 8:23, Van De Bospoort LAU (elbowing) 9:13, Bergeron LAU (cross checking), Smith LAK (goaltender interference) 10:41.

THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Laurier, Borrows 5 (Pettapiece) 4:51. 6. Laurier, Good 3 (Bradley, Peacock) 5:08. 7. Lakehead, Dobben 6 (Smith) 9:56. 8. Lakehead, Anilane 7 (Maunu) 11:58. 9. Lakehead, Hogg 2 (Guilbault, Zulyniak) 17:44 pp. 10, Laurier, Bradley 5 (unassisted) 19:25 en. 11. Laurier, Bradley 6 (unassisted) 19:39. Penalties: Bernardi LAU (roughing) 0:29, Baird LAK (cross checking) 7:38, A. Alphonso LAK (tripping) 14:00, Bonneville LAU (slashing) 15:40, Borrows LAU (tripping) 16:51.

GAME DATA - SOG - Laurier 14-15-10-39, Lakehead 11-8-14-33; Power plays (goals-chances) - Laurier (0-2), Lakehead (0-4); Goaltenders - Laurier: Jeff MacDougald, Lakehead: Kyle Moir; A: 2,992.