Waterloo Warriors goaltender Julian Sime (Mississauga/North Bay Battalion, OHL) picked up right where he left off in his first start of 2019.
Sime followed up his first OUA shutout back on December 1 with a career-high 45 saves, and the Warriors got goals from five different players to claim a 5-3 victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Saturday night in Thunder Bay.
The victory gave Waterloo a weekend split of their doubleheader with Lakehead. A night earlier, in their first action of the new year, the Wolves got goals from five different scorers themselves in besting the Warriors 5-2.
But after a tough loss to start the weekend, Waterloo wasted no time responding in the rematch Saturday night. Just 13 seconds into the contest, Nick Halagian (St. Catharines/Powell River Kings, BCHL) beat Thunderwolves goaltender Nic Renyard to give Waterloo a lead in the first shift of the game. Mitch Elliot (Prince George/Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL) added another goal in the game's opening minutes, as Waterloo dominated the opening 20 minutes – they outshot the hosts 20-12 in the first period.
Lakehead responded in the second though, but Sime was up to task, making several highlight-reel stops. The Thunderwolves finally broke through on a five-on-three advantage when Caleb Boman blasted one home, making it 2-1 after two periods.
But the Warriors extended their lead early in the third, thanks to an inspired play by their captain. After breaking up a Lakehead rush, Mike Moffat (Waterloo/Kingston Frontenacs, OHL) danced through the Wolves and went end-to-end, forcing Renyard to kick the Moffat shot right out to Cole Murphy (Cole Harbour/Pictou County Crushers, MJHL), who re-stablished the two-goal cushion on the rebound. Then, less than three minutes later, Jack Scanlan (Penetanguishene/Stratford Warriors, GOJHL) notched a power-play marker to give Waterloo a 4-1 lead.
As it turns out, they would need every one of those third-period insurance goals, as the Wolves scored twice more in the third to narrow the Warriors lead to 4-3. But after some harrowing final moments, Michael Morgan (Scarborough/North York Rangers, OJHL) scored into the empty net to secure the win.
A night earlier, the Warriors were victims of their own special teams in a 5-2 loss. The Warriors went 1-for-9 on the man-advantage, and they also surrendered a short-handed goal on a four-minute power-play, down just 3-2 late in the third. Lakehead went 2-for-3 on the power play, while Renyard made 26 saves for the victory.
Moffat and Connor Lovie (London/Cochrane Crunch, NOJHL) notched the Waterloo goals, while Trevor Martin (Ardrossan/Calgary Hitmen, WHL) turned aside 29 shots in defeat.
The Warriors now sit in the middle of a six-team logjam in the OUA West division, with a 6-10-4 record. Just five points separates the six clubs, and three of the five will earn postseason spots. Waterloo will now continue their quest to improve their position in the standings as they face off against two of the top teams in the division – on Thursday, Waterloo will take on the second-place Ryerson Rams in Toronto, before hosting first-place Brock on Saturday afternoon at the Columbia Icefield Arena.
