LONDON, Ont. - The Western Mustangs men's hockey team will close out the 2010 portion of the season with a home contest against the Brock Badgers, a team playing very well under head coach Murray Nystrom.

The Badgers (6-4-5, 6th OUA West) have outscored their opponents 43-39 this season and are 4-1-5 in their last 10 games, showing they are competitive in a league full of parity.

Western (12-0-3) is four points ahead of second-place Lakehead and would like to add some valuable distance between them before the holiday break. The Mustangs have outscored their opponents 73-38 this year, and Western has a game in hand on the rival Thunderwolves and is ranked No. 4 in the CIS.

The offence has been balanced with a number of players stepping up to deliver. Forward Aaron Snow has 10 goals and 12 assists in 14 games to lead the Mustangs, while Kevin Baker has nine goals and 13 assists in his 14 games. Snow, a former Dallas Stars draft pick, has been a key component in Western's success this year with 16 different players scoring thus far this season.

Anthony Grieco and Josh Unice have both been solid in the Western net combining for the 12 victories, and are listed among the OUA leaders in both goals against and save percentage.

In their last meeting, the Badgers gave Western a scare, but the Mustangs came from behind to win 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 27 in St. Catharines, Ont.

Snow scored the only goal in that shootout while Unice made 32 saves along with stops on all shootout attempts to give the Mustangs the win.

Brock jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a power play and shorthanded goal before Mustang Adam McKee scored late in the first period to cut the lead to 2-1.

Snow scored a second period powerplay goal to pull the Mustangs into a tie.