Western's women's lacrosse team unseated six-time defending champions Wilfrid Laurier to win their first OUA women's lacrosse banner in history in the fall.
Led by a high-octane offence, solid goaltending and menacing speed, the Mustangs started the year with a bang, ending Laurier's three-year, 26-game winning streak (
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The team finished the 2009 season the same way they started it: by beating the six-time defending OUA champion Golden Hawks 9-5, going on a 7-0 run early and running out the clock to earn the Patterson Cup. (
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Senior attacker Lindsay Doxtator - who was recently an Olympic torch-bearer, representing Oneida, her First Nations community - had a great 2009, winning the OUA gold and representing Haudenosaunee, a team of Iroquois women, in the team's first apperance at the ILF Women's World Lacrosse Championships in Prague.
Emmi Morris (Brampton, Ont.) was named OUA rookie of the year and a first-team all-star, while goaltender Summer Windley (Kitchencer, Ont.), Nicole Pullen (Orangeville, Ont.) and Laura Robinson (Peterborough, Ont.) were also named OUA first-team all-stars.
Mustangs Doxtator (Southwold, Ont.) and Meranda Hodgson (Brighton, Ont.) were named second-team all-stars.
The Mustangs, which entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed after posting a 9-3 regular season record, booked a spot in the OUA Final with a thrilling 8-7 semifinal win over the No. 3-seeded Queen’s Gaels (8-4) a day earlier.
Pullen (Orangeville, Ont.) was the top scorer in that contest, tallying four of Western’s eight goals.
For most of the year, the Mustangs used a balanced offensive attack en route to scoring 134 regular season goals (third-most in OUA). Morris had 26 goals, while Crape scored 23, Pullen tallied 22 and Lindsay Doxtator (Southwold, Ont.) managed 21. Doxtator also collected 16 assists to give her a team-high 37 points. But it was defense that put the Western women over the top.
The Mustangs allowed a league-low 84 goals against during the regular season, one fewer than the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, who posted a perfect 12-0 record during the regular campaign.
It was the Mustangs first Top 3 finish since capturing an OUA silver in 2002.
