Fourth place in competitive OUA league for Mustangs

Oct. 29: Western 3 York 2; Oct. 30: Guelph 6 Western 4; Oct. 31: Waterloo 3 Western 1

NORTH YORK, Ont. - The Western Mustangs women's varsity field hockey team played its final game of the year in the 2010 OUA Field Hockey Championships held this weekend at Downsview Park.

Western prevailed 3-2 over York in the quarter-final on Friday Oct. 29, but succumbed to the Guelph Gryphons 6-4 in the semifinal and Waterloo (3-1) in the bronze medal match. The Mustangs finished the season fourth in the OUA.

The Mustangs started the weekend strong with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over York. The host team was ahead 1-0 at the half, but conceded the tying goal to Megan Scraper (West Vancouver, B.C.) from a textbook two-on-one with fellow west-coast forward Elsbeth Tate (Richmond, B.C.).

Western took the lead when Scraper scored her second goal of the match off a penalty stroke, but York was quick to retaliate, tying the game at two.

But Western regained the lead late in the second half with a deflected goal by rookie Safia Mohamed (Vancouver) - she earned the Player of the Match honours for her efforts.

The win advanced Western to play the eventual provincial champion - and nationals hosts - Guelph in the semifinal round on Saturday Oct. 30.

The Gryphons gained a 1-0 lead early in the game, but Tate kept the Mustangs alive, scoring the tying goal off a penalty corner. Guelph then potted their second of the match, but Tate came to the rescue once again, scoring her second of the match off an identical penalty-corner play.

In a see-saw battle, Guelph took the lead once again with a goal off an aerial, but could not defend the advantage as Scraper netted the third goal for the Mustangs, ending the half in a 3-3 tie.

The Gryphons opened scoring in the second half as well, regaining the lead early. Western rookie Taylor Klimosko (Calgary) was not having it, however, and scored off a centered pass to tie the game for the fourth time.

Guelph scored their fifth and sixth goals of the match shortly after, securing the win and sending the Mustangs to the bronze medal game versus Waterloo.

Tate was crowned Player of the Match.

With the semifinal loss, the Mustangs advanced to the OUA Bronze-Medal Match with a spot at nationals on the line. Their opponent Waterloo scored first, slipping a shot past Western goalkeeper Gillian Cummings (Toronto).

Waterloo also capitalized off a second scoring opportunity later in the half, putting the Warriors ahead by two at the break.

The Mustangs began the second half strong, earning their first goal of the match off a penalty stroke by Scraper. Waterloo retaliated with their third goal of the game, however, which the Mustangs could not counter.

With the win, the Warriors earned an OUA bronze medal as well as a berth to the CIS Championships, held next weekend in Guelph, Ont. Scraper was named Player of the Match and also earned Western Mustangs GoodLife Fitness female athlete of the week honours.

The team will return to action in January, 2011.

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