Adam Sergerie knows how to go out with a bang.
The fifth-year senior on Saturday scored a hat trick and added an assist in his regular-season finale at Fort William Gardens as the Lakehead Thunderwolves raced out to an 8-0 lead after 40 minutes and hung on to beat the Waterloo Warriors 9-3.
“It’s nice. My dad made the trip this weekend, and for me, it’s probably the last time he’s going to be able to watch me play hockey. So in that sense it’s special, leaving him with a couple of good games and some memories,” Sergerie said.
“For me, this probably is the last straw. It’s nice to finish out that way.”
More importantly the win lifted the shorthanded Thunderwolves into second place in the OUA West, their 16-8-2 record tied with Guelph, who knocked off Windsor 4-1 on Saturday. The Wolves hold the tiebreaker, winning three of four meetings between the two teams.
“Absolutely, that’s the No. 1 thing. We’re in second place now. We can’t (catch) Western, but we want to finish as high as possible. Right now we’re in second and we hold the cards and it’s our job to make sure we finish in second.”
The Wolves were without forwards Carson Dubchak, Trevor Gamache and Jake Carrick, all sitting out multiple-game suspensions, and coach Mike Busniuk, also out on a league-mandated one-game vacation.
That left assistants Jeremy Adduono and Colin Zulianello to man the Lakehead bench.
Adduono, a former seventh-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, said it was evident early on the Wolves were firing on all cylinders.
“Everyone saw from the start of the game that we were skating and moving our feet. It’s a team that we haven’t seen every night obviously. But it was one of those games where some of the shots we took early went in,” Adduono said.
“We got up a few goals and we just kept going. The momentum was in our favour.”
Sergerie’s night was special to watch, he added.
“I told him with about 30 seconds left on the bench, congratulations. Obviously you couldn’t write it a better way, to finish your last regular season game at home.”
Not that Sergerie was the only LU player on fire, in their highest-output performance of 2012-13.
Forward Matt Caria scored once and added five assists, tying the team’s single-game points record, joining former captains Andrew Brown and Joel Scherban and ex-teammate Brock McPherson in the six-point club.
And Ryan Magill potted a pair of first-period goals, helping stake Lakehead to 5-0 lead after 20 minutes.
“I just wanted to get out and give the team best chance of winning, and when a night like that happens and everything is going your way, things come simple. When your line-mates are playing the way they were, it’s just a fun way to play.”
Things weren’t going the way of Waterloo goalie Keaton Hartigan, forced to remain in the nets with backup Justin Leclerc stuck at home battling illness and the team’s video coach donning the pads as the No. 2 goaltender.
Sergerie opened the scoring at 4:27 of the first and within 14 minutes LU was up five goals, two from Sergerie and two from Magill. Jay Gilbert scored the other marker, rifling a shot from inside the blueline that Hartigan had no chance to stop.
Luke Judson, on a breakaway, Mike Hammond and Caria, on the power play, scored in the second.
Waterloo (11-10-5) showed some spark in the third, Ken Allicock, Jarred Parent and OUA leading point-getter Justin Larson beating Alex Dupuis. Two of the goals came on the power play. Sergerie completed his hat trick with 3:25 to go.
Claw marks: Gamache, Sergerie, Kalvin Sagert and Victor Anilane were honoured as graduating seniors in a pre-game ceremony … The Wolves have won six of seven outings and finish off the regular season next weekend on the road against Brock and Waterloo … If the season ended today, the second-place Wolves and seventh-place Warriors would match up in the opening round of the playoffs ... It was the most goals Lakehead has scored in a game since tallying nine against UOIT on Oct. 28, 2011 ... LU has hit double digits 10 times, incouding a 12-1 playoff win over Waterloo on Feb. 27, 2004.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Sergerie 9 (Hammond, Caria) 4:27. 2. Lakehead, Magill 3 (Grondin, Grecica) 6:42. 3. Lakehad, Sergerie 10 (Caria, De La Lande) 10:11. 4. Lakehead, Gilbert 2 (Caria) 11:25. 5. Lakehead, Magill 4 (Anilane, Gilbert) 18:24. Penalties: Larson WAT (hooking) 12:04, Magill LAK (high sticking) 14:49, Caria LAK (unsportsmanlike conduct) 19:10.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 6. Lakehead, Judson 14 (unassted) 5:08. 7. Lakehead, Hammond 10 (McIntosh, Caria) 6:23. 8. Lakehead, Caria 9 (Sergerie, Quesnele) 8:24 pp. Penalties: Allicock WAT (spearing double minor, unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct), Maw LAK (unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct) 6:55.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 9. Waterloo, Allicock (Behenna, Underwood) 8:10 pp. 10. Waterloo, Parent (Allicock) 12:01.11. Waterloo, Larson (Underwood, Behenna) 13:08 pp. 11. Lakehead, Sergerie 11 (Sagert, Caria) 16:35. Penalties: McDonald LAK (slashing) 7:32, Grecica LAK (high sticking) 12:50 pp.
GAME DATA – SOG – Waterloo 11-8-20-39, Lakehead 14-12-10-36; Power plays (goals-chances) – Waterloo (2-4), Lakehead (1-2); Goaltenders – Waterloo: Keaton Hartigan, Lakehead: Alex Dupuis; A: 2,855.
