Box Score The Waterloo Warriors' long trip north to Thunder Bay is going to feel a whole lot shorter with a 1-0 series lead.

Blake Chartier (Winnipeg/) had four points, Kirt Hill (Winnipeg/) notched two goals, and the sixth-seed Warriors scored six unanswered times en route to a 7-2 victory over the third-seed Lakehead Thunderwolves on Wednesday night at the Columbia Icefield Arena in Waterloo, taking a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three OUA West quarterfinal series.

Joe Underwood (Canton/) had three assists in the Warriors onslaught, while Brett Mackie (Whitby/), Andy Smith (Rosetown/), and Colin Behenna (Waterloo/) had two points apiece. Veteran goaltender Keaton Hartigan (Kitchener/) was solid when he needed to be in the Warriors crease, turning aside 21 shots for the victory.

Jay Gilbert and Ryan Magill scored for the Thunderwolves, who's biggest concern might be the fate of leading scorer Matt Caria – Caria was assessed a turning-point 5-minute major and match penalty for a late hit to the head of Mackie in the second period, and supplemental discipline could be impending.

Wolves goaltender Alex Dupuis took the loss in the Lakehead cage, allowing six goals on just 22 shots through two periods. Dupuis was replaced by backup Jeff Bosch to start the third, and Bosch stopped 7 of 8 shots fired his way in the final period.

Lakehead had the bulk of early chances in the first period, but it was the Warriors who opened the scoring on the man-advantage, when Chartier grabbed a loose puck in a goalmouth scramble and went top shelf on the backhand for a 1-0 Waterloo lead. The Thunderwolves answered on a power play of their own five minutes later, when Gilbert took a cross-ice feed from Caria and zipped a wrister past Hartigan to make the score 1-1 after twenty minutes.

Goals in the second period came fast and furious, as Magill intercepted a Hartigan pass along the boards and fired a shorthanded slapper over the goalie's left shoulder to make the score 2-1 Lakehead early in the second. The Warriors responded just 20 seconds later on the same man advantage, when Smith beat Dupuis with a bomb from the point to square things at 2.

The Warriors struck again only 56 seconds after that, as Mackie tipped home a Chartier feed to put Waterloo up 3-2. Then, after the two exchanged pleasantries during the previous stoppage, Caria leveled Mackie behind the play with no puck in sight, sending Waterloo to a 5-minute power play and sending Caria to an early shower.

The Waterloo man advantage didn't begin strong, and just as it looked as though they might squander the opportunity, Hill found himself alone in front with Dupuis out of position, making the score 4-2 for the hosts. The Warriors kept the foot on the gas after the penalty expired, as Matt Amadio (Sault Ste. Marie/) cleaned up a 2-on-1 rebound, and Hill tipped home an Underwood point shot to put the game out of reach at 6-2 after two periods.

The rather tepid third period saw only one goal, as Underwood led an end-to-end rush and threw the puck into Bosch's feet, where Kain Allicock (Markham/) was waiting in front to cash on the rebound.

The Warriors will now trek north in search of the first-round upset in game two on Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 pm, and the game can be seen live on the Streaming Sports Network at www.ssncanada.ca .

Notes: Waterloo went 3-for-6 on the power play, while Lakehead went 1-for-4…Chartier almost matched his full season point total in this one game – he registered five points in 28 games in the regular season…Lakehead defenceman Mike Quesnele missed the game due to injury.