The Lakehead Thunderwolves defeated the York University Lions men's hockey team by a score of 5-2 in the first game of their weekend doubleheader at Canlan Ice Sports.
 
The Thunderwolves built a 3-0 lead early in the second period and never looked back. Jordan King tallied the first goal of the game 13:23 into the opening frame and Geoff Dempster made it 2-0 with 11 seconds left on the clock in the period. One minute into the second, Kyle Auger scored for the three-goal advantage for the visitors.
 
The score remained that way until five minutes into the third period, when Nik Coric found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 3-1. Less than four minutes later, Brendan Browne narrowed the score again with his marker, making the score 3-2.
 
The Lions pulled Cole Ceci late in the third for an extra attacker but could not find the equalizer before Lakehead's Daniel Del Paggio added an empty netter to put the game away. Patrick Murphy scored another on the empty net to round out the scoring.
 
Ceci finished with 21 saves on the night, while Nic Reynard picked up the win while making 23 stops.
 
Tensions flared at the end of the contest and the two teams will renew their rivalry again on Saturday night when they return for Game 2 of their doubleheader. Puck drop is set for 7:15pm at Canlan Ice Sports.