The Windsor Lancers men's hockey team braced the frigid temperatures of Thunder Bay and laced up their skates for the first time in 2018 for a two game series against the Lakehead Thunderwolves. 
 
Unfortunately, the Lancers were unable to claim a win, falling 3-1 to the host Thunderwolves Friday night before dropping a 5-4 overtime thriller on Saturday. Windsor is now 6-7-5 on the season and is tied with the Thunderwolves (8-8-1) for sixth place in the OUA west division standings. 
 
FRIDAY JANUARY 5TH
The Blue and Gold started 2018 off in tremendous fashion, netting the first goal of the game when Chris Scott scored off an Ian Parker assist not even four minutes into the game. Scott's power play goal was the only scored in the first 20 minutes of the game and Windsor took a 1-0 lead to the locker room.
 
Four and a half minutes into the second period, Trevor Hines beat Richard to tie the game at one. The tie held strong until the Lancers gave up another second period goal with 2:05 to go, this time it was Grant Valiquette who beat Richard to give the Thunderwolves a 2-1 lead heading into the third.
 
In the third period, Lakehead was able to net an insurance goal when Brennen Dubchak scored a power play goal at the 7:20 mark of the third period. Unfortunately for the Lancers they wouldn't be able to muster a single goal and Valiquette's goal would stand as the game winner.

The shot battle was almost even, with Lakehead barely edging the Lancers 26-24, though Windsor outshot the Thunderwolves 17-13 over the final two periods. Both power play units had productive outings, with Windsor scoring on one of their three power plays and Lakehead scoring on one of their two advantages.
 
The goaltenders each put forth a commendable effort, with Lakehead's Nic Reynard stopping 23 of the 34 shots he faced. Windsor's Blake Richard stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced on the night.

SATURDAY JANUARY 6TH
Adam Burnett fired a one-timer past Lakehead goalie Devin Green high on the blocker side on a Windsor power play at 10:11, and Ian Parker finished off an odd-man rush at 11:34 to put the Lancers up 2-0 heading into the second.
 
Jake Ringuette beat Lancers' netminder Jonathan Reinhart 6:36 into the middle frame while the Wolves were short-handed to narrow the gap to 2-1, with the helpers going to Devin Fullum and Austin McDonald.
 
Lakehead's Billy Jenkins was hauled down on a breakaway an awarded a penalty shot a few minutes later, but was thwarted by Reinhart who made plenty of big saves throughout the contest.
 
Brennen Dubchak evened the score with 1:45 left in the second stanza by knocking home a rebound from the edge of the crease while the Wolves held the man-advantage, with Ringuette and Dillon Donnelly getting the assists.
 
Cooper Leitch gave the Wolves their first lead of the game with a wrister that handcuffed Reinhart and slipped between his glove and pads 7:19 into the third, with Callum Fryer and Joseph Leonidas assisting.
 
Despite being outplayed at this point, Windsor stole Lakehead's momentum with a pair of quick goals.  Alex Friesen got the first one at 11:33, and Brennan Feasey rifled a screened shot past Green on the power play less than three minutes later to put the Lancers back in front 4-3.
 
Lakehead pulled Green for an extra attacker with 1:30 showing on the clock and the Wolves swarmed the Windsor zone, getting several good scoring chances.  It looked like time would run out until Dubchak fed Donnelly who charged in on the right side and fired a hard shot that Reinhart stopped, but Billy Jenkins swatted the rebound into the back of the net with just 10 seconds to go, sending the game into overtime.
 
Windsor's Justice Dundas crashed into the Lakehead net and was called for goaltender interference 1:34 into the extra session, giving the Wolves a four-on-three power play.
 
Lakehead turned that advantage into a flurry of activity around the Windsor goal, and Dylan Butler slammed the puck home from close range with Leitch and Ringuette assisting, giving the Thunderwolves the victory.

UP NEXT
The Lancers host the Laurier Golden Hawks for a pair of games next weekend at South Windsor Arena. The puck drops at 7:30pm on both Friday January 12th and Saturday January 13th, and can be seen live at www.oua.tv.