LONDON, Ont. - Nicole Pullen (Orangeville, Ont.) and Lindsay Doxtator (Southwold, Ont.) combined for nine points as Western ended Laurier's 26-game unbeaten streak with a 9-5 win at the UWO rugby fields on Sept. 19.
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Western led 4-1 at the end of the opening quarter, paced by a stellar goaltending performance from Summer Windley (Kitchener, Ont.).
The Mustangs defeated the six-time defending OUA champion Golden Hawks with a strong effort at both ends of the field, and excellent ball control.
Pullen paced Western with three goals and a pair of assists, while Doxtator had two goals and two helpers.
"It feels great," said Pullen. "We played as a team and we worked together. We stuck to our checks and played very well together and had great defence."
Transition goals were key in the victory.
"We talked about getting possessions on faceoffs in practice and did a pretty good job," she said. "Teams know now that we're a good team. We'll be a bit more respected."
Braedyn O'Rahilly (Whitby, Ont.) led Laurier's attack with four goals, while senior Kristen Sarson (Bedford, Mass.) had one goal.
Mustangs rookie Emmi Morris (Brampton, Ont.) was stellar in her Western debut with two goals and one assist. Singles came from Beth Turowec (Oshawa, Ont.) and freshman Lauren Crape (Calgary, Alta.).
Windley made eight saves for the win in Western's cage. She returns to Western after sitting out the 2008 season and made an immediate impact.
"Summer was outstanding," said Mustangs head coach Dave Hastings. "It's a good win, the ladies practiced like crazy leading up to this and the nice thing was our defence was great - and that was a concern for us coming in."
"To hold Laurier to one goal in the first half, any time you can do that you have to be happy."
While the win was important for the Western program, Hastings cautioned that the score was not indicative of how close the teams are in talent.
"We're not getting really excited, it's a long season and Laurier will be back," Hastings said. "They'll want to avenge the loss."
Laurier has a 71-3-1 record dating back to their run of six consecutive titles beginning in 2003.
This is Western's first win over the Golden Hawks since an 11-9 Mustangs victory in London, Ont., on Oct. 26, 2002.
Western opened the scoring with two quick goals. Doxtator opened the scoring five minutes in and then Morris took a feed from Pullen off a fastbreak shooting a low bounceshot, catching the Golden Hawks off guard.
O'Rahilly scored her first three minutes later, but Turowec and Crape responded for Western before halftime. Crape's first career OUA goal came in the dying seconds of the half, on a great transition goal for the Mustangs starting near midfield after a Golden Hawks foul.
In the second half, Pullen appeared to make it 5-1 Western, but her shot hit the crossbar.
Sarson scored to pull Laurier within two goals at 4-2, but they wouldn't get any closer.
Morris tallied her second of the game on a beautiful give-and-go play near the side of the net with Doxtator, and then Pullen netted two in a row to give Western a 7-2 cushion.
Pullen added another before the end of the game, while O'Rahilly scored three more for Laurier.
Doxtator rounded out the scoring with a late goal off a penalty shot with the goalie out of her cage.
Hastings called a timeout with the score 7-4 for Western to slow the game down with 10 minutes remaining. It worked.
"I just told the ladies to relax and to slow the play down," Hastings said. "They had perfect execution down the stretch, by us slowing the play down, holding onto the ball, it forced them (Laurier) to make mistakes and take penalties."
"It's a great win for the girls.:
Western plays two games Sunday Sept. 20 against Toronto (9 a.m.) and McMaster (11 a.m.) at the UWO practice fields.
