LONDON, Ont. - Just completing his 15th season as head coach of the Western Mustangs men's soccer team, coaching veteran Rock Basacco is preparing his team for another run to the CIS nationals.

It's a familiar November tradition for Basacco.

Basacco has brought the Mustangs to seven national championships, medal ling five times including back-to-back golds in 1998 and 1999. He has also coached the Mustangs to six OUA championship titles (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006), a silver medal in 2007 and a bronze in 2005.

The four-time OUA coach of the year and one-time CIAU coach of the year guided Western to a 3-1 OUA quarter-final win Saturday over McMaster at TD Waterhouse Stadium.

The next challenge comes Saturday at 11:30 a.m. when the Mustangs face the Toronto Varsity in an OUA semifinal at York Stadium. With a win, Western would earn a berth in the CIS national championships the following weekend in Toronto.

As the Varsity Blues are the host of the CIS championships, they have an automatic berth as the host.

So if Western lost to Toronto in the semifinal, they would have a second shot at qualifying for nationals in a Sunday 11 a.m. OUA bronze-medal game.

Basacco said winning the Toronto is "crucial", even though a back-door route to nationals is available if they lose the semifinal, through a win in the OUA bronze-medal game.

"You want to try to get the highest seed you possibly can. Winning Saturday an important first step to get that seed."

Toronto (10-1-3, ranked No. 5 in the CIS) will present a formidable challenge.

"They are a very skillful team, as they always are," Basacco said. "They are organized defensively and they have a couple of good goal-scorers, especially Nordo Gooden, a fifth-year player."

"They move the ball well on the ground. They are a strong team overall."

Alexander Raphael led the Blues in scoring with eight goals.

Western matches up well to counter the high-octane Toronto attack which scored 34 goals this season.

Mustangs senior goalkeeper Andrew Murdoch, an OUA West second-team all-star, has been the anchor of the great defence this season leading the OUA with 11 shutouts. His squad only surrendered nine goals in 2010.

Western is led by OUA West all-star striker Niko Mavrikos, a talented playmaker who led the team with 10 goals, good for second in the OUA. Toronto this season only allowed five goals so Western will need its offensive stars to shine.

Mavrikos is a terrific finisher and headlines a deep, experienced offence which includes striker Pat Mroczek, who missed most of the season with injury, veteran forward Mike Sawchuk and Isaac Jacobsen of Vancouver.

Paul D'Amario, one of the province's top fullbacks and a first-team OUA West all-star, anchors a great back-four, along with second-team OUA West all-star Andrew Walton. Matt Delich, Alex Lewis and John Morrissey round out the top five fullbacks.

Another first-team OUA West all-star, crafty Vince Caminiti is a dangerous counter-attack threat on the left wing, while Eric Amato is a great scoring threat through central midfield and will be key to Western's offence and their ability to control time of possession in Western's traditional 4-4-2 set .

"The fact we've had goal scoring from not just our strikers but also the midfield has also helped us," Basacco said. "Pat Mroczek is helping our cause in terms of our striking connection. Mike Sawchuk can contribute to scoring, he has height and is a threat in air. And Eric Amato and Vince (Caminiti) and Daniel Baxa in the midfield. We have some other guys who can put the ball in the net with those three."

Amato and Caminiti are tied for second in the team scoring with four goals a piece.

Basacco said this week's preparation has focused on key tasks each night.

Monday night the team focused on attacking through the middle, Tuesday night on attacking from the flank, Wednesday night they worked on defence, and defending Toronto's 3-1-4-2 format.

"Tonight (Thursday) we will finish off with preparation on special plays attacking and defending set pieces," he added.

"We are a healthy team, we have some healthy bodies for a change," Basacco said. "It's nice to know we have some players we can put in to keep the flow of the game going for us."

The York Lions (12-2-2, ranked No. 2 in the CIS) face Ryerson Rams (7-2-5) at 2 p.m. in the other OUA semifinal. Ryerson knocked off OUA East powerhouse Carleton last weekend for the right to play for a spot in nationals.

OUA Final Four Schedule
(All Games at York Stadium, all games on SSN Canada at www.ssncanada.ca)
Saturday Nov. 6
Western vs. Toronto, 11:30 a.m.
Ryerson vs. York, 2 p.m.
Sunday Nov. 7
Bronze Medal Match, 11 a.m.
OUA Championship, 2 p.m.

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