THUNDER BAY – It felt a little like death by a thousand goals for the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Saturday night.
OK, only five Waterloo shots found their way past LU goaltender Max Wright in a 5-1 home-ice loss to the Warriors, but each one cut a little deeper, and in the end, the Thunderwolves weren’t able to muster the offensive effort needed to secure the weekend sweep – despite heartily outshooting their opponent for a second straight night.
Waterloo (2-2-0) put on a defensive clinic, goaltenders Matt Onuska, who left with an apparent shoulder injury incurred during a goal-mouth scramble in the middle of the second, and Daniel Murphy combining for the win.
Lakehead’s multitude of shots were either just wide, fired directly into the Waterloo netminders, or deftly blocked by a Warrior defender, a millisecond too late to do the intended damage.
The Wolves did finally manage to score, rookie Nick DeGrazia redirecting a Keighan Gerrie pass behind Murphy, Lakehead on their second two-man advantage of the night, the goal coming with 3:22 to play in the period.
DeGrazia just missed further cutting into the Waterloo lead with 2:09 to go, flicking it off the crossbar with Murphy down and out.
The Warriors had earlier killed off a lengthy two-man disadvantage in the first, the Thunderwolves going 1-for-7 on the power play. They did it again late in the third, Murphy proving to be a stone wall in the Waterloo net.
“I think we had a pretty good game offensively, but just couldn’t find a way to beat the goalie tonight until it was too late,” said DeGrazia, his goal his first of the regular season and first of his OUA career.
“There are a few things we’ve got to clean up, but I like our team so far. We’ve just got to keep going. The goals will come.”
Lakehead coach Andrew Wilkins said his troops just didn’t generate enough good chances, even though there was a 20-shot margin on the shot counter.
“We weren’t able to sustain anything and then (we gave) up that third goal at the beginning of the second. I thought we had a couple of chances. Having the one called back was tough, but at the end of the day I just don’t think we were good enough tonight.”
Brent Bowie opened the scoring for the Warriors five minutes into the contest, played in front of 2,372 fans at Fort William Gardens, pouncing on a rebound after a scramble in front of Wright.
Max Neill, who scored twice in Friday’s 4-3 loss to the Thunderwolves, was at it again in the rematch, scoring on a low shot from just inside the blueline that went between the LU netminder’s legs, a shot Wright should have stopped.
Waterloo doubled their lead with a pair of tallies in the second.
Connor Lovie lit the lamp just 22 seconds into the middle stanza and Adamo Santia scored his first of the season with 1:54 left in the frame, the Warriors jumping in front 4-0 after 40 minutes.
DeGrazia got one back late in the third, but Cole Fraser ended the comeback bid with an empty netter at 17:58.
Murphy, who made 25 saves, said his teammates made his relief session relatively easy.
“Honestly, the guys kept a lot outside, a little inside, but not the rush, which is always nice for me. I’m not as good a skater as I used to be, the body’s wearing down a bit, but shoutout to the guys for holding a good lead,” Murphy said.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Waterloo, Bowie 1 (Bierd, Lovie) 5:16. 2. Waterloo, Neill 4 (Wood, Fishman) 9:05. Penalties: McKinney WAT (holding) 12:18, Robinson WAT (roughing) 12:40,
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Waterloo, Lovie 2 (Gritz) 0:32. 4. Waterloo, Santia 1 (Gritz) 18:06. Penalties: Blackwell LAK (cross checking, served by Ho), Rose WAT (cross checking) 15:09, Rose WAT (cross checking) 19:02, Blackwell LAK, Wood WAT (roughing) 20:00.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 5. Lakehead, DeGrazia 1 (Gerrie, Jette) 16:38. 6. Waterloo, Fraser (Fedak, Robinson) 17:58 en. Penalties: Fedak WAT (tripping) 4:17, Popple WAT (spearing double minor, served by Lovie), Badalamenti LAK (roughing) 12:59, Van Unen LAK (holding) 13:03, Fishman WAT (roughing) 14:39, Bierd WAT, Bowie WAT, Wood WAT, Ho LAK (rouging), Turpin LAK (roughing, cross checking), Whittaker LAK (roughing) 20:00.
GAME DATA – SOG – Waterloo 13-8-4-25, Lakehead 10-13-22-45; Power plays (goals-chances) – Waterloo (0-0), Lakehead (1-7); Goaltenders – Waterloo: Matt Onuska (12:47 second, 20-20), Daniel Murphy (25-25), Lakehead: Max Wright; A 2,372.
