Box Score Coming off a heartbreaking loss less than 24 hours earlier, the Waterloo Warriors had to find a way to dig deep and come up with an inspired effort in the biggest game of the season to date.
Mission accomplished.
The Warriors got goals from
Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge) and
Michael Morgan (Scarborough), as Waterloo clinched a playoff spot with a 2-1 victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Saturday afternoon at the Columbia Icefield Arena.
The win not only secured Waterloo's spot in the postseason, but it propelled the Warriors in front of the Thunderwolves and into seventh place in the OUA West division. The Wolves fell to eighth place, but they, too, clinched a playoff spot by virtue of Western's 5-3 defeat at the hands of the UQTR Patriotes.
The Warriors improved to 11-12-3 on the season, and they notched their fourth victory in the past five games.
Mike Morrison (Hamilton) made 21 saves for the Warriors, while the hosts played a stifling brand of defensive hockey to stifle the Lakehead attack.
Sam Schutt generated the only goal of Lakehead's night, while Devin Green turned aside 32 shots in defeat. Lakehead saw their record fall to 11-13-2, with four losses in their last five contests.
With both teams playing at a postseason-type pace, the Warriors opened the scoring when
Zac Coulter (Owen Sound) found Sonnenburg alone in front for his team-leading ninth goal of the year. After an issue with the boards forced a lengthy delay and an early intermission, the Warriors headed into the second period up 1-0.
The Thunderwolves looked to equalize in the second period, but a Lakehead power play turned into a massive momentum swing when Morgan picked off a loose puck at his own blue line and flew in on a breakaway. The rookie got Green to bite on a head fake before going upstairs, giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead that they would protect through the end of the middle stanza.
The Warriors were able to kill off a five-minute kneeing penalty from
Adam Bignell (Kitchener) early in the third, but the Wolves struck midway through the frame when Schutt played keeper on a 2-on-1 and beat Morrison to cut the Waterloo lead to one goal. But the Warriors held the fort the rest of the way, salting away the 2-1 victory.
Waterloo will now look to move up in the standings in their final pair of regular season games next weekend. First, the Warriors will host the Windsor Lancers on Friday, February 10 at 7pm, before wrapping up their schedule on Saturday, February 11 at 4pm against the Toronto Varsity Blues.
