LONDON, ON - The Western Mustangs Women's Hockey Team (1-4-0-1) notched it's first victory of the season Sunday afternoon behind Chantal Morais' (Guelph, Ont.) third and fourth goals of the season.

Netminder Jessica Ulrich (Keswick, Ont.) was instrumental in the victory as the visiting York Lions (2-2-0-0) outshot Western 46-24 on the afternoon including 18 of those coming in the second period.

Morais got the scoring started early, beating Lions goalie Sydney McMurter (Orillia, Ont.) on a goalmouth feed from Kailey Hooker (Mississauga, Ont.) at 3:21 of the opening frame.

York answered back in the dying seconds of the period as a scramble in the crease favoured Andrea Joyce (Oakville, Ont.) as she picked up her first career OUA goal.

Despite being outshot 18-10 in the second period, the Mustangs capitalized on their opportunities as Morais and Ellie Seedhouse (Whitby, Ont.) scored while York's Kelsey Webster (Duncan, BC) beat Ulrich on a fluttering puck from the perimeter.

Entering the final frame up 3-2, Western clung to the narrow lead as the hungry Lions fought and clawed their way into the offensive zone for much of the period, outshooting Western 12-3.

Ulrich came up big on several instances throughout the afternoon, including a 2-on-0 save off of Joyce midway through the second period.

Western saw success with the man advantage, going 2 for 9 in the game and Chantal Morais eluded to an adjustment the Stangs made early in saying, "they really pressured us down low, collapsing at every opportunity they could so we decided to take the play to the points and grabbed the lead."

The trio of Morais-Seedhouse and Katie Dillon (Oshawa, Ont.) carried the offensive load today and Morais adds, "we really clicked out there this afternoon, Ellie's strong puck control allows us two to find the openings and results in scoring chances."

The win improves Western's record to 1-4-0-1 on the season as they aim to battle their way out of the OUA basement.

"The record isn't indicative of the product in the dressing room," says Morais. "If we focus on the one-on-one battles and stay out of the penalty box, we can skate with any team in this league."

Western looks ahead to Friday night when they travel to Oshawa to take on the UOIT Ridgebacks (1-3-0-0) at 7:30.

WOMEN'S HOCKEY
Western 3 York 2

1st Period
1, Western, Morais 3 (Hooker), 3:21.
2, York, Joyce 1 (Wilson), 19:36.

Penalties-Webster Yor (interference), 4:10; Gidomski Uwo (hooking), 13:36; Petkovics Yor (tripping), 16:00; Welten Uwo (hooking), 16:38.

2nd Period
3, Western, Morais 4 (Seedhouse, Johnston), 1:36 (pp).
4, Western, Seedhouse 3 (Johnston), 3:06 (pp).
5, York, Webster 1   3:39.

Penalties-Wiltshire Yor (hooking), 0:45; Cole Yor (slashing), 1:10; Welten Uwo (hooking), 5:28; Daniels Yor (tripping), 6:08; Flanagan Uwo (cross checking), 8:50; Welten Uwo (hooking), 10:55; Daniels Yor (inter. on goaltender), 11:43; Johnston Uwo (interference), 11:56; Halinen Yor (body checking), 13:43; Webster Yor (roughing), 16:45; Dillon Uwo (cross checking), 16:45; Gagnon Yor (body checking), 17:13.

3rd Period
No Scoring.

Penalties-Hooker Uwo (hooking), 5:00; Unruh Yor (body checking), 15:21.

Shots on Goal     1     2     3     T
York                      16  18   12   46
Western               11  10     3   24

Power Play Opportunities
York              0 for  7
Western       2 for 9

Scoring By Period      1        2        3         T
York                              1        1        0         2
Western                       1        2        0         3

Goalies
York, McMurter 2-2-0-0 (24 shots-21 saves)
Western, Ulrich 1-4-0-0 (46 shots-44 saves).