Lakers take first game of TBAY TEL Varsity Cup

Lake Superior State University, who hasn’t lost to a Canadian University since 1997, dominated the Lakehead Thunderwolves in the Lakers opening game of the TBAY TEL Varsity Cup. LSSU shutout Lakehead 4-0 Wednesday evening, with goaltender Jeff Jakaitis posting his second shutout in the past three games (the TBAY TEL Varsity Cup counts as exhibition for the Lakers and statistics do not count toward NCAA). LSSU goaltender, Jeff Jakaitis, who has played in 19 of the Lakers 20 games this season, was a surprise start for the Lakers against the Thunderwolves. “It was kind of getting to be a grind, I played a lot of games before Christmas,” Jakaitis said. “It felt fresh after the break. I think it was just one of those things; it just seemed like no matter what I did I was in the right place.” The first period ended with both teams tied 0-0, even though LSSU dominated the flow of play including a breakaway by Derek A. Smith that was stopped by Lakehead goaltender Chris Whitley. The flow of the second period was controlled by Lakehead with Jakaitis keeping the Lakers in the contest, making several good saves. Josh Sim (9:55 assisted by Troy Schwab and Kory Scoran) and Jeff Rainville (10:00 unassisted) opened the scoring for the Lakers scoring goals 5 seconds apart midway through the second period. Dan Eves was credited with the third goal of the game, at 16:19 of the second period, when the puck slipped by Whitley on the power play on a shot originally from Derek A. Smith. Eves added his second goal of the game at 8:40 of the third period taking a lead pass from Trent Campbell as he came out of the penalty box and snapping a shot under the cross-bar on the breakaway. Lake Superior State out-shot Lakehead, 43-37. LSSU was 1 for 5 on the power play while Lakehead was held scoreless in 5 opportunities. The Lakers will meet Calgary Thursday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. The Dinos lost the first game of the tournament 5-4 in overtime to the St. Francis Xavier X-Men.