THUNDER BAY, Ont. – The No. 4 ranked UOIT men's hockey team earned their eighth win of the season with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves Friday night.

The game was the first half of their weekend series as the teams will have a rematch on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Thunder Bay.
 
UOIT (8-1-0) remains in first place in the OUA eastern conference, two points ahead of Concordia (7-1-0) who defeated Laurentian 7-3 on Friday night. Lakehead (3-4-1) has now dropped three straight games.
 
Tyson Teichmann (Belleville, Ont.) got the start in goal for UOIT but only lasted 17:50 minutes into the first period as he went down with an injury. Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.), who just got back in the lineup after suffering an injury of his own, came into the game in relief and made 20 saves in the victory.
 
Jack Patterson (Bedford, N.S.) gave UOIT a 2-1 lead midway through the third period, scoring the Ridgebacks third shorthanded goal of the season. With less than three minutes to go, Kelin Ainsworth got the T-Wolves fans on their feet beating O'Neill to send the game to overtime tied at two goals apiece.

With two seconds left on the clock in the extra frame, UOIT veteran Mike Robinson (Scarborough, Ont.) lit the lamp for his second game-winning goal of the season. Cam Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) and Josh Carrick (Stouffville, Ont.) added assists.
 
Earlier in the game, Connor Jarvis (Port Union, Ont.) moved into second place in the OUA goal scoring race as he notched his seventh of the year late in the second period to tie the game at 1-1.
 
Brennen Dubchak and Kelin Ainsworth were the goal scorers for Lakehead.
 
Both power play units struggled with Patterson's shorthanded goal the only one scored on special teams. UOIT went 0-for-8 with the man advantage while Lakehead was 0-for-5.
 
UOIT outshot Lakehead 40-30.
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 10-3-2
Conference Record: 8-1-0
 
Next game: Saturday, Nov. 5 at Lakehead Thunderwolves (7 p.m. – Thunder Bay, Ont.)