THUNDER BAY – SPORTS – The Lakehead Thunderwolves will host the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks at the Fort William Gardens this weekend, with the opening face-off set for 7:00 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday nights.
Last Time Out
Lakehead dropped a pair of road games to the Concordia Stingers in Montreal last weekend. After a spirited rally by the Wolves fell short in a 4-3 loss in on Friday night, Lakehead was shutout 4-0 by the Stingers the following evening.
Ontario Tech picked up four points at home last weekend by beating Laurier 4-2 on Friday and then defeating Waterloo 3-1 on Saturday.
Series History
Lakehead holds the advantage in the all-time series versus Ontario Tech with a record of 13-4 against the Ridgebacks.
The two squads last met in November of 2013 when the Ridgebacks swept the weekend series in Oshawa by scores of 1-0 and 3-1.
Injury Report
Thunderwolves’ forwards Billy Jenkins (ankle) and Sam Schutt (hand) will not dress this weekend, but defenceman Linden Springer (shoulder) is probable to return to the line-up.
About the Ridgebacks
Ontario Tech sits atop the OUA East Division with a conference record of 7-1, and the Ridgebacks are currently ranked #4 in U Sports Top Ten Poll.
UOIT is led by Head Coach Curtis Hodgins, who is in his second year with the Ridgebacks after 16 seasons behind the bench in the OJHL.
Ontario Tech has a balanced scoring attack with forwards Danny Elser, Mitch Bennett and Ben Blasko leading the way with 9 points each. Defencemen Kyle Locke and Jason Shaw anchor the blue line.
Netminders Tyson Teichmann (5 starts) and Brendan O’Neill (3 starts) have both put up sterling numbers in the Ridgebacks’ goal this season. Teichmann has a 2.16 goals-against average and a save percentage of .932, while O’Neill has a 1.62 GAA to go along with a .954 SV% and has posted one shutout.
John Payetta
Manager of Operations and Communications