Box Score At the rate he's going, Warriors rookie forward
Colin Behenna (Waterloo/) is going to have to come up with more bench-clearing goal celebrations.
For the second time in eight days – and for the second time in three career CIS games – Behenna netted the overtime winner as the Warriors overcame a late deficit to upset the tenth-ranked Lakehead Thunderwolves 5-4 on Friday night at the Columbia Icefield arena. The winning goal capped a four-point night for Behenna, who also scored the equalizer with 2:31 remaining in the third period. The former Barrie Colts captain now has 7 points in his first three games.
The back-and-forth affair saw a total of four deficits erased – two by each team. Although the lead changed hands freely, the Warriors carried the bulk of the play throughout the night, outshooting the Wolves 44-26. Goaltender Alex Dupuis was superb in the loss for Lakehead, while Warriors netminder
Keaton Hartigan (Kitchener/) made 22 saves for his second OT win of the young 2012-13 season.
For the Thunderwolves, the loss makes a bad week worse, as it comes just a day after the firing of head coach Joel Scherban. Interim head coach Mike Busniuk, an assistant under Scherban, lost his debut behind the bench to push Lakehead's record to 3-2-0. The win moves the Warriors to 2-1-0.
In addition to Behenna's four-point night, captain
Kirt Hill (Winnipeg/) and Behenna's linemate
Justin Larson (Buckhorn/) each put up a goal and an assist for the victorious Warriors. While no Thunderwolf had more than one point, they were paced by their top line of Matt Caria, Mike Hammond and Luke Judson, who combined on the first Lakehead goal and created a number of prime scoring chances.
For the first time in the young season, the Warriors avoided early penalty trouble, and it resulted in a dominant first period on the shot clock – Waterloo outshot the Wolves 16-4 through the first 20 minutes. After Caria cashed on a nice feed from Hammond to open the scoring, the Warriors tied it up late in the first when, on a 2-on-1 rush, Behenna pulled Dupuis out of position before Larson slammed it home. Then, only 1:14 later on the man advantage, second-year defenceman
Joe Underwood (Canton/) finally got the monkey off his back when his chest-high wrister found its way through traffic and behind Dupuis for his first career CIS goal.
The second period featured the fewest goals of any stanza, but it was likely the best-played frame of the night. Just short of the game's halfway point, Lakehead captain Adam Sergerie cashed on a rebound in front to even the score at two. It looked like the game would remain deadlocked after 40 minutes until
Kirt Hill (Winnipeg/) leapt from the penalty box, stole a rolling puck from Dupuis and beat the Wolves tender on the backhand with only 18 seconds left in the period.
Despite the way the second ended for the Wolves, they were the better of the two teams in the early stages of the third period. Just past the 5-minute mark, Mike MacDonald took advantage of a giveaway by a wandering Hartigan and found the open net to knot things at 3. Then, less than two minutes later, Trevor Gamache took advantage of a defensive zone turnover and beat Hartigan over the glove to give Lakehead their last lead of the night.
After falling behind, the Warriors once again turned it on and were clearly generating the bulk of the scoring chances. It finally paid off with under three minutes to play when Larson made an inspired end-to-end rush before dishing to
Ryan Molle (Calgary/), who's shot rebounded right out front to a streaking Behenna for the game tying goal.
The extra session started with each team's most dangerous forward tandem on the ice, and the Warriors ended it quickly. Only 25 seconds in, defenceman
Steve Whitely (Petrolia/) jumped into the rush, spun, and fired a low shot from the left post that bounced off of Dupuis' blocker and high above his head. Behenna waited for the puck to drop below the crossbar before batting in and setting off a raucous celebration.
The Warriors now must face a new challenge in the 2012-13 season, as they'll play their first road game on Saturday night against the York Lions at 7pm. The Warriors' next home game will be Saturday, Oct 27, when they welcome the Windsor Lancers to the CIF for a 7:30 puck drop.
Notes: The Warriors were 1 for 4 on the man advantage, while the Thunderwolves went 0-for-2…Waterloo forward
Micky Sartoretto (Sault Ste. Marie/) made his CIS debut after missing last weekend's games due to personal reasons…Whitely now has an assist in each of Waterloo's three games.
