LONDON, Ont. - Leading junior Aaron Snow's (Windsor, Ont.) two goals helped lift Western to a 7-2 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks on Oct. 22.
Jason Furlong (London, Ont), Chris Corbeil (Oakville, Ont.), Scott Aarssen (London, Ont.), Steve Reese (Dorchester, Ont.) and Brandon Greenside (London, Ont.) also notched goals for the Mustangs. Hakws goals were scored by Alexander Poulter (Broomfield, Ont.) and Thomas Middup (Richmond Hill, Ont.).
Before tonight’s contest, Western (3-0-1) trailed one point behind Laurier (3-2-0) in the OUA West Division, the Hawks with one more game under their belt. After tonight’s play, Western claimed first place with a one point lead over Laurier and Waterloo.
Furlong put the Mustangs on the scoreboard early in the first frame on a shorthanded play after intercepting Hawks goaltender Ryan Daniels’ pass up the middle of the ice. Furlong rushed in untouched and fired one shot at Daniels before jumping on the rebound to finish the play. Western held Laurier scoreless for the remainder of the period.
Western’s second goal came after captain Kyle Lamb (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) launched a pass through both Hawks defenders to an open Corbeil who walked in and deked Daniels.
The fast play continued and three minutes later all five Mustangs players attacked the offensive zone. Furlong rushed into Hawks territory along the boards and made a swift pass back to defenceman Matt Paltridge (Tecumseh, Ont.) on the far point. Paltridge threaded a pass along the blueline to Aarssen who wired a shot past Daniels for his first goal of the season.
Western continued to charge as Greenside, who scored one goal and had two assists, jumped up on the play. Greenside walked through the slot and fired a shot on net that hit Daniels square in the mask. Daniels was unable to shake off the blow, leaving an open rebound for Snow to tuck away his first goal of the evening.
Reese planted himself unaccompanied on the face-off dot and scored Western’s fifth goal after craddeling a pass from linemate Kevin Baker (Georgetown, Ont.) and throwing the puck on net.
Poulter scored Laurier’s first goal after the puck bounced of Western defender’s leg and the puck squeaked between Mustangs’ netminder Anthony Grieco's (Brampton, Ont.) legs, finishing the second period at 5-1.
Snow’s second goal came from a cross-crease pass as he buried the puck into the back of the net.
Greenside’s first goal of the season stemmed from his determination as he worked his way down low and lifted a shot over Daniels' shoulder.
The Hawks scored a powerplay goal midway through the third frame to finish the scoring at 7-2.
Western’s pressured offensive attacks and quick puck moving helped dominate Laurier as the Mustangs outshot the Hawks 57-23.
Head coach Clarke Singer said he was impressed with the team’s overall success.
“I thought our guys did a great job moving the puck against them tonight and getting the puck in deep,” Singer added.
The Mustangs will travel to Waterloo for a 7:30 p.m. contest on Oct. 23.
