LONDON Ont. - The Western Mustangs women's hockey team (9-11-3) fought hard but lost a close battle 2-1 to the York Lions (15-6-1) on Jan. 30 at Thompson Arena.

After a scoreless first period, the Lions popped two quick goals in the second period and held onto that lead until the final horn.

The lone goal for the Mustangs came off the stick of Ellie Seedhouse (Whitby, Ont.), the teams leading scorer. Her powerplay marker in the third was part of a much moreinspired period by the Mustangs as the team started off slowly but picked things up late.

"We made some changes to our offense in the third period and it seemed to pay off for us, the team was much more on the ball," said Mustangs head coach Paul Cook."We put more pressure on their defense and it turned into some chances for us."

Unfortunatly for the Mustangs, the chances didn't translate into goals, which is something that Cook said his squad needs to work on.

"As happy as I am with the teams effort, when you don't get the bounces there's not much you can do. As long as we can continue to get the chances I will be happy, that will translate into goals," said the head coach.

Heading into the game the Mustangs were sitting in an uncomfortable sixth place in the OUA, tied with the Brock Badgers. Unfortunatly for the Mustangs the loss sticks them at 21 points, as they play the waiting game to see how other teams do before knowing where they sit in the standings heading into the final few games of the regular season.

The Mustangs will not be allowed to rest as they get back in action against the Toronto Varsity Blues (11-8-2) on Jan. 31 at Thompson Arena at 2 p.m. The contest will mark the final home regular season game that the team will have ths season. That also means it will be Seniors Day as all the graduating players on the Mustangs women's hockey team will be honoured before puck drop.