THUNDER BAY – Christian Cicigoi proved it once and for all – he’s got nerves of steel.
On Saturday night, with 14.2 seconds left on the third-period clock and the Lakehead Thunderwolves clinging to a one-goal lead over the visiting Toronto Varsity Blues, Toronto’s Owen Robinson was awarded a penalty shot.
Apparently, there’s a seldom-used rule in the OUA books that awards a penalty shot when a player closes their hand on the puck, regardless of where on the ice the infraction takes place.
In this case, Troy Williams grabbed the puck in the corner and Robinson, who scored in Friday night’s series opener at Fort William Gardens, skated toward Lakehead’s rookie goaltender.
Cicigoi came out of his net to challenge Robinson, who attempted a move similar to his goal a night earlier, only to be stonewalled this time around.
Josh Van Unen, who opened the scoring with the only goal of the first, then put the game away, scoring into the empty net with 1.4 seconds to go, securing a 4-2 triumph.
“I came out, like I always do, and let him make the first move,” said Cicigoi, good on 28 of 30 shots he faced in the contest.
“He kind of made a similar move last game and it worked for him, so I kind of taunted him with my blocker a little bit, which is a little arrogant by me. But I just had that swagger today and it ended up working out. We’ll take it.”
It was the fifth straight win for the streaking Thunderwolves (11-5-2), who joined a three-way tie for second place in the OUA West, just a point behind No. 1 Toronto Metropolitan, Lakehead seeking its first division title since capturing the OUA Far West in 2007-08.
“All we wanted was to win both of these games,” said Van Unen, a first-year forward from Kamloops, B.C., who now leads the Thunderwolves (11-5-2) with seven goals this season.
“I think everyone coming in played their best. Our goalies were unbelievable all weekend, so it was definitely a huge two games for us.”
Lakehead coach Andrew Wilkins said there was a lot of emotion in both games, particularly Saturday’s, which was still up for grabs in the final minute of play.
He liked the way his team responded in the clutch.
“When it comes down to the 15 seconds, they call a time out and are running set plays. When you see the block that Josh made and then he got the empty netter, it’s pretty relieving,” Wilkins said.
Speaking of set plays, LU forward Griffen Fox made a pretty decent one of his own early in the third on the power play, helping his team double their one-goal lead and take a crucial 3-1 advantage.
Fox, showing skills that would make most pool players jealous, angled the puck off the end boards and it caromed perfectly onto the stick of a streaking Ben Badalamenti in the slot. The second-year forward one-timed past Ramsay, caught off guard on the play.
Lakehead led 1-0 after one, but Toronto’s Owen Guy evened the score at the 7:48 mark of a chippy second that saw 54 minutes in penalties awarded. Guy took a cross-crease pass from Zack Smith and the ensuing shot proved too quick for Cicigoi.
But like they’ve done in their recent hot streak, LU had a pretty quick answer, Tyler Ho taking a pass from Olivier Pouliot, and, mirroring the Toronto tally, buried it behind Ramsay.
Toronto (9-7-2) cut the gap to one with 6:16 to play in the third when Cole Puroboo roofed a shot on Cicigoi, the Varsity Blues up a man.
Lakehead hits the road next weekend for games against Guelph, Waterloo and Laurier, returning home the following weekend when they welcome Guelph and Laurier to the Gardens on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring:1. Lakehead, Van Unen (Pouliot, Van Den Hurk) 15:33 pp. Penalties: Purboo TOR (cross checking) 1:24, Matton TOR (tripping) 15:13, Smith LAK (slashing) 16:03.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Toronto, Guy (Smith) 7:48. 3. Lakehead, Ho (Pouliot) 10:26. Penalties: Van Unen LAK (roughing), Barbosa TOR (cross checking) 8:33, Mack LAK (hooking), Wojciechowski LAK (hooking), King TOR (roughing), Ho LAK (misconduct) 10:40, Yan TOR (high sticking), Davis TOR (roughing) 14:38, Smith LAK (roughing, misconduct), Wojciechowski LAK (roughing), Elliott TOR (roughing), Hanna TOR (roughing, misconduct) 17:28, Smith TOR (charging) 19:34.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Lakehead, Badalamenti 4 (G. Fox, Blackwell) 1:32 pp. 5. Toronto, Purboo (Robinson) 13:44 pp. 6. Lakehead, Van Unen (unassisted) 19:58 en. Penalties: Grima TOR (cross checking) 6:11, Van Den Hurk LAK (high sticking), Mack LAK (roughing), Davis TOR (roughing) 6:57, Smith LAK (slashing) 12:38, Woodhouse TOR (high sticking) 14:37, Williams LAK (delay of game), N. Massie LAK (misconduct) 19:45.
GAME DATA – SOG – Toronto 8-11-11-30, Lakehead 10-11-9-30; Power plays (goals-chances) – Toronto (1-4), Lakehead (2-7); Goaltenders – Toronto: Rayce Ramsay, Lakehead: Christian Cicigoi; A: 2,142.
