NORTH BAY, Ont. — Josh Van Unen scored the only goal of the shootout and powered the Lakehead Thunderwolves to a 4-3 win over the Nipissing Lakers.
Ben Badalamenti, Spencer Blackwell and Griffen Fox netted regulation goals for Lakehead in the Thursday matinee contest.
The Wolves led 2-1 after one and opened up a 3-1 lead 81 seconds into the second on Fox’s third of the season. But Nipissing’s Parker Bowman scored back-to-back tallies later in the middle stanza to tie the score and ultimately send it to overtime.
The extra period solved nothing, Lakehead’s Christian Cicigoi stopping 27 of 30 shots before the penalty-shot portion of the game kicked in. Reece Proulx made 32 saves for the Lakers, but couldn’t stop Van Unen in the shootout.
Reilly Mayne, Charles Farmer and Harrison Caines each came up short against Cicigoi and the Thunderwolves.
Lakehead (5-4-1) and Nipissing (5-3-2) will meet again on Friday night.
