LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs captured a bronze medal with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the York Lions Sunday afternoon at the 2009 OUA Field Hockey Championships at TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ont.

Rookie forward Megan Scraper (West Vancouver, B.C.) scored the eventual game-winner in the 58th minute for the Mustangs, who won bronze for the second straight year.

“It was on a short corner. Weber [Michelle] got the ball laid out to her and then she hit me the perfect ball for a deflection,” said Scraper. “I was just there. Weber did all the work.”

Michelle Weber (Ilderton, Ont.) also did a lot of work in the first half, as the fifth-year forward put Western up 1-0 in the opening minute of the game.

York responded, however, in the 10th minute when third-year defender Tracy Broome (Waterloo, Ont.) scored on a penalty shot to tie the score. Broome then put York up 2-1 off a corner in the final play of the first half.

But the Mustangs managed to mount a comeback in the second half after dominating much of the play in York’s end. Kirsten Jewell (Toronto, Ont.) finally tied the score at two in the 56th minute, beating York goalkeeper Brittney Blount (Ottawa, Ont.) on a corner.

“When we were down 2-1, I was still extremely confident in our side,” said Western head coach Jeff Pacheco. “York has a really strong netminder, and Brittney makes a lot of good saves at the right time. But you watch a lot of film and you break down what their team is doing, and our set plays came through today.”

Scraper certainly came through in the end, scoring just two minutes after Jewell to give Western a 3-2 lead. They would hold on to win the OUA bronze.  

“We worked so hard this season,” said Scraper. “It feels really good, but this medal for me is going to be one of many I hope. We came third, but if anything it’s just a preview of the years to come.”

“You still get that bitter taste in your mouth when you think about watching the next game [the OUA final] and knowing that you want to be there,” Pacheco said. But we’ll take this result. It’s just showing that Western’s really coming on the scene as a top-calibre team in the OUA. And we plan on bringing it every year.”