MHKY: Thunderwolves in danger of missing playoffs for first time

The Lakehead Thunderwolves playoff hopes rest on the result of their season finale Saturday against the Laurier Golden Hawks.

Win and they’re in.

Lose and the Wolves will miss the post-season for the first time in their 14-year history.

Lakehead didn’t do itself any favours on Friday night. With No. 1 goalie Jeff Bosch not making the southern Ontario trip, the Thunderwolves were forced to go with Justin McDonald against a tough Waterloo Warriors squad.

Forty minutes and five goals surrendered later, McDonald found himself on the bench, untested rookie Riley Corbin placed between the pipes.

It mattered not who was in nets by then.

The Warriors vaulted out to a 5-2 lead and scored a 7-4 win that led the Thunderwolves to the brink of elimination.

The two sides played pretty even hockey for the first 30 minutes of play at the Columbia Ice Field, trading goals in the first and another each to start the second.

That’s when the Warriors began to pull away.

Andrew Smith beat McDonald to put Waterloo up 3-2 at the 9:52 mark of the middle frame, the Riley Sonnenburgh scored back-to-back goals five minutes apart to open up a three-goal cushion.

Smith added his second of the night 16 seconds into the third, and Colin Behenna replied just shy of the six-minute mark to put the game out of reach.

Jake Wright and Matt Kaarela, with his first of the campaign, scored LU’s first two goals. Keith Grondin and Ryan Magill scored third-period markers.

The loss drops Lakehead into ninth in the OUA West, at 9-14-3, while third-place Waterloo improved to 17-7-2.

Laurier, at 10-15-1, tied with Lakehead, a team the Golden Hawks defeated 4-3 on Oct. 4, but has one more win and techically holds down eighth.

The Wolves are a point behind Brock, who downed Toronto 7-2 on Friday. Lakehead and Brock split a two-game set in November, the Badgers taking the first game 4-2 before being drubbed 8-1 in the rematch the following night.