LONDON, ON - Two 401 rivals re-ignited what was a fierce battle in 2009 as the Windsor Lancers took two of three from the Western Mustangs in one goal margins. All three meetings between the two combatants last season went to extra time and embarking on a new calendar year, Paul Cook's Mustangs were looking to get off on the right foot on home ice.
Western kept pace with the Lancers in the first period's early stages as both netminders proved worthy on early scoring chances. Coach Jim Hunter's squad would dig up the game's first lead as leading offensive threat Manon Davis (Sudbury, Ont.) lifted a backhander over a grounded Lindsey Martin (London, Ont.) on the powerplay to strike first.
Undisciplined play set the Stangs further back in the early stages of the second as the province's top powerplay struck again with Candace Rapchack (Stoney Point, Ont.) beating Martin down the right wing on a low wrist shot for her second goal of the season.
Western wouldn't trail for long as their defensive communication vastly improved into the second period and sparked the early developments of Chantal Morais' (Guelph, Ont.) tenth marker as Ashlyn Karaplidis (Richmond Hill, Ont.) sprung Ellie Seedhouse (Whitby, Ont.) down the wing enroute to a Morais rebound goal.
From there, Western soared offensively with two more goals prior to the period's expiration from Lindsay Repath (Thornhill, Ont.) and Aoife Cox (Hamilton, Ont.) with her first of the campaign.
Lindsay Martin provided continual support in the Mustang goal, building on her strong Holiday showing in Connecticut as she turned aside 29 of 32 Windsor shots on the afternoon.
With Martin holding down the fort in goal, Western continued producing offensively with Tawn Rellinger (Colorado Springs, CO, USA) sparking the Mustang powerplay at 10:10 of the third period and Katie Dillon (Oshawa, Ont.) adding Western's fifth of the game moments later at 15:05 on a bobbled rebound.
The Lancers didn't go down without a fight late as Kelly Calhoun (Weston, Ont.) stuffed the puck through Martin's five-hole with just over three minutes remaining. Western locked down defensively after surrendering their third goal of the afternoon enroute to the 5-3 final.
With a Waterloo loss at home to Toronto, the Mustangs extend their lead to three points over the Warriors for the sixth and final playoff spot, as Windsor falters to a 5-12 record on the season.
The two teams lock horns again tomorrow afternoon at the St. Denis Centre in Windsor as Western looks to cushion it's current playoff security headed into the season's latter stages.
Western 5 Windsor 3
Jan 9, 2010 - Thompson Arena
Windsor 1 1 1 - 3
Western 0 3 2 - 5
1st Period
1, Windsor, Davis 14 (Rapchak), 19:01 (pp).
Penalties-Meincke Wsr (interference), 5:45; Hoover Wsr (slashing), 15:50; Repath Uwo (hooking), 17:48; Welten Uwo (cross checking), 19:01.
2nd Period
2, Windsor, Rapchak 2 (Barnett, Calhoun), 0:50 (pp).
3, Western, Morais 10 (Seedhouse, Karapalidis), 1:33.
4, Western, Repath 3 (Gidomski, Carver), 4:06.
5, Western, Cox 1 (Hewins), 19:07.
Penalties-Hooker Uwo (cross checking), 5:24; Meincke Wsr (hooking), 19:15.
3rd Period
6, Western, Rellinger 3 (Johnston, Seedhouse), 10:10 (pp).
7, Western, Dillon 4 15:05.
8, Windsor, Calhoun 3 16:29.
Penalties-Rellinger Uwo (tripping), 3:07; Buck Uwo (interference), 4:27; Hoover Wsr (hooking), 9:08; Rapchak Wsr (tripping), 9:35; Harada Uwo (high sticking), 12:14.
Shots on Goal
Windsor 13 9 10 32
Western 7 8 6 21
Power Play Opportunities
Windsor 2 of 6
Western 1 of 5.
Goalies
Windsor, Tessier 5-11-0 (21 shots-16 saves).
Western, Martin 2-1-1 (32 shots-29 saves).
