The Western Mustangs field hockey team split their Thanksgiving weekend matches losing to Guelph and beating York on Oct. 9 in Waterloo.
The Mustangs lost to Guelph 4-3 on Saturday morning, but rebounded to beat York 2-1 that afternoon.
Guelph opened the scoring early in the morning match, but Western’s Megan Scraper (West Vancouver, B.C.) responded quickly with a goal off a penalty corner. Guelph answered with a second goal to regain the lead, but veteran forward Elsbeth Tate (Richmond, B.C.) would slip a neat ball past the Guelph keeper to tie the game up for the second time.
The Gryphons answered Tate’s goal with a third of their own, but the Mustangs continued their heartfelt battle as Scraper equalized the game once again with a high reverse shot.
It was Guelph who scored last, however, off a penalty stroke awarded for an aggressive tackle, to secure the win.
Veteran defender Jessica Bryce (Oakville, Ont.) didn’t dwell on the loss for long.
“Even though we came away with a tough loss, the scoreline shows that we're going to be a big competitor in the playoffs and we’re super excited to show it," Bryce said.
In the Mustangs 2-1 victory over the Lions, it was rookie midfielder Lauren Mackenzie who scored first, followed by an equalizer from York. Scraper netted her third goal of the weekend off a nifty pass from Tate, which later proved to be the game winner.
Julia DiGravio (Waterloo) earned the win in net for the Mustangs.
The field hockey team will be in Kingston, Ont., this weekend seeking revenge against the University of Toronto on Saturday, Oct. 16 and will look to defeat McGill and Queen’s on Sunday, Oct. 17.
