THUNDER BAY – The rivalry isn’t what it used to be.
Twenty years ago, the Lakehead Thunderwolves and Western Mustangs were the class of Ontario University Athletics.
Things have changed.
The Mustangs and Thunderwolves have fallen on hard times of late, though Lakehead appears to be emerging into contender status once again, coming within one game of a national championship appearance in 2022-23.
Western, on the other hand, has started the season 0-7-0 and is mired in the OUA West basement, all signs pointing toward a fourth straight season at or below .500.
A trip to For William Gardens on Friday night did little to turn the Mustangs fortunes around. The Thunderwolves, coming off a weekend road split against the Toronto Varsity Blues, weren’t horsing around with their one-time arch-rival Mustangs in the building.
Olivier Pouliot scored the go-ahead goal two minutes into the third, breaking open a 1-1 contest, and the Wolves went on to edge Western 3-2, improving to 4-3-1 in the process. For the Mustangs, it was an eighth straight defeat.
Dylan Massie netted the eventual game-winner, scoring from a seated position, wildly waving at a loose puck bouncing around Dylan Myskiw’s crease area.
“I was on my butt,” Massie said. “To be honest, I don’t really know (what happened). I just saw Spence (Blackwell) take a shot. I fell and just swung my stick at it. Sometimes it’s just luck.”
LU coach Andrew Wilkins said it just goes show that putting pucks on the net pays off.
“It was a good second effort. It’s a really good example of a hard-working goal, a guy at the net. It’s how goals are scored in the NHL too,” Wilkins said.
Still, the veteran bench boss wasn’t thrilled with the 60-minute effort, the Mustangs coming into the contest with a -23 goal-differential, allowing more than five goals a night.
“I thought we were pretty dull for 40 minutes, honestly. I thought they got better in the second. I thought we had a couple of chances to score some goals in the first, where I just don’t think we were very sharp,” Wilkins said.
“But it was good to get those two in the third to give us the lead. I thought our goalie played really well.”
Christian Cicigoi was sharp in the Thunderwolves net, stopping 30 0f 32 chances, including a point-blank chance against Western’s Christiano Aiello late in the second, preserving a 1-1 tie at the time.
The Wolves scored the lone goal of the opening period, Nicholas DeGrazia burying a pass from Keighan Gerrie at the 7:28 mark.
Western tied it up with 5:23 to go in the second when Owen Saye ripped a low shot from the left faceoff circle following a tic-tac-toe passing play with teammates Zach Power and Jake Gravelle, who had rung one off the post in the final minute of the first.
Pouliot’s go-ahead goal early in the third came courtesy of a tape-to-tape pass from Joe Mack, Pouliot redirecting the puck past Miskiw in the blink of an eye.
Western went on the power play with 3:02 to go, but Lakehead’s penalty kill did its job and held the lead.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. DeGrazia (Gerrie) 7:28. Penalties: Aiello WES (roughing) 9:37.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Western, Saye (Power, Gravelle) 14:37. Penalties: Ho LAK (high sticking) 19:23.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Lakehead, Pouliot (Mack) 1:55. 4. D. Massie (Blackwell, Fox) 8:44. 5. Wester, Danielson (unassisted) 10:45. Penalties: Power WES, D. Massie LAK (roughing) 14:22, D. Massie LAK (roughing) 16:52.
GAME DATA – SOG – Western 8-12-12-32, Lakehead 14-9-9-32; Power plays (goals-chances) – Western (0-2), Lakehead (0-1); Goaltenders – Western: Dylan Myskiw, Lakehead: Christian Cicigoi; A: 2,478.
