MHKY: Badgers finish strong, double Thunderwolves

The Lakehead Thunderwolves are closing in on home-ice advantage in their opening-round playoff series. They're not quite there yet.

But they’d better start to turn things around or it might be a very short post-season visit. The Wolves second-half tumble continued unabated Saturday night, thanks to a pair of Andrew Radjenovic third-period goals.

The Brock Badgers forward saved his best for last, leading his side to a 6-3 home-ice win, handing the Thunderwolves their fifth straight defeat.

The loss, combined with Western’s 3-1 win over York, dashed any LU hopes of an OUA West title, dropping the Wolves to 15-8-3. Their 33 points gives them a narrow edge on both Ryerson and Windsor, who sit a point back in the standings.The Badgers, four points back, could still catch the Wolves too, though Lakehead needs just a single point against Waterloo next weekend to clinch a top 4 berth.

Adam Restoule, Mike Quesnele and Luke Maw scored for the Wolves, who entered the third tied 3-3.

Sammy Banga, Matt Abercrombie and Jeff McPherson, who potted the equalizer at 12:02 of the second, scored for the Badgers. Kaine Geldart iced it into the empty net.

It was a huge couple of points for the Badgers, who entered play tied for eighth place with Waterloo, but climbed to fifth spot at 13-10-3, a point ahead of three other teams with two games left on the schedule.

After starting the season 13-3-0, Lakehead has gone 2-5-3 in their past 10 outings, collecting just seven of a possible 20 points.