For the fourth consecutive season, the Western men’s hockey team will face archrival Lakehead in a three-game series with a chance to advance to the Queen’s Cup final and a berth in the nationals on the line.

The series began Wednesday night in Thunder Bay with Lakehead opening the series with a 5-4 win. Erik Lodge, Joel Scherban, Mike Wehrstedt and Jeff Richards scored for the Thunderwolves, while Craig Kennedy, Sal Peralta and Mike Rice replied for the Mustangs.

Western and Lakehead split their regular-season games, with Lakehead winning both games in London and Western taking the final two games of the regular season in Thunder Bay — a pair of wins that propelled the Mustangs to the Far West division title.

Western is coming off a hard-fought series with Waterloo, while Lakehead swept its best-of-three series against York.

Western’s regular-season success has not traditionally carried over to post-season success against Lakehead. Lakehead won last year’s series after taking the third and deciding game in an epic four-overtime battle. The Thunderwolves also defeated Western the previous year in two straight games. Before defeating Waterloo, Western had not won a playoff series since its national championship in 2002.

Western will be looking to stay alive when the series resumes Saturday night at Thompson Arena. If a third and deciding game is necessary, it will go Sunday night at Thompson Arena. Both games are set to start at 7:35 p.m. and can be heard live on CHRW 94.9FM.
—Ian Denomme