LONDON, Ont. – Chris Corbeil (Oakville, Ont.) notched three goals in Western’s 5-2 victory over the Windsor Lancers on Feb. 24 at Thompson Arena in the first game of the best-of-three OUA West Semifinal series.
Remaining Mustangs goals were scored by Kyle Lamb (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) and Jason Furlong(London, Ont.). Jonathan Sciacca and Scott Gillis scored for Windsor.
The Mustangs Joe McCann (Essex, Ont.) held onto the puck long enough to make a cross-ice pass to Yashar Farmanara (West Vancouver, B.C.) to beat one Windsor defender. Farmanara made a swift pass around the last defender to Lamb in front of the net who released a goal past Lancers’ Jim Watt (Edmonton).
Furlong notched a shorthanded goal after Windsor’s offensive attack produced an odd-man rush. Furlong stickhandled around the Lancers’ defenceman waiting for his linemates to gain the zone and create a scoring opportunity. Furlong picked a corner and wired a shot past Watt to take a 2-0 lead heading into the second frame.
The Lancers went up on a 5-on-3 advantage over the Mustangs and worked the puck in the offensive zone. Western’s goaltender Keyvan Hunt (Coquitlam, B.C.) made several saves before Sciacca’s shot beat Hunt down low to bring the game to 2-1.
Windsor broke out against the Mustangs and on a defensive mishap Gillis beat Western’s defenders and Hunt to tie the game.
Western battled back and regained the lead after Farmanara’s initial shot was blocked by Watt but Corbeil jumped all over an open rebound.
Hunt made 33 saves as a crucial component to the Mustangs game success. Hunt’s outstanding play held the Lancers powerplay opportunities at 1/8.
Corbeil scored his second of the night after banking a pass off the boards past Windsor’s defender to Matt Piva (Maple, Ont,) on the left wing. Piva and Corbeil rushed the offensive zone where Piva made a quick pass across to Corbeil who went top shelf on his backhand to beat Watt and take a 4-2 lead.
Corbeil also netted an empty net goal with one second remaining to earn a hat-trick and obtain the 5-2 victory.
Head coach Clarke Singer said Corbeil has been missed through his absence while playing lacrosse for the National Lacrosse League's Buffalo Bandits.
“He’s really a dynamic player as we saw tonight, he does a lot of things real well, and getting three goals tonight was a big factor in this game,” Singer said.
The Mustangs will travel to Windsor on Friday Feb. 26 for the second game of the OUA West Semifinal series. The contest begins at 7 p.m. and will air live on CHRW Radio (94.9 FM) and online at www.chrwradio.com/listen/.
Box Score
Western 5 Windsor 2
(Thompson Arena, London, Ont.)
1st Period
1. Western, Lamb 2 (Farmanara, McCann), 9:05 (pp)
2. Western, Furlong 1 (Aarssen, McCann), 19:27 (sh)
Penalties-McCann Uwo (hooking), 2:01; Gaynor Wsr (slashing), 7:09; Sharp Uwo (inter. on goaltender), 18:56.
2nd Period
3. Windsor, Sciacca 1 (Gaynor, Lang), 3:39 (pp)
4. Windsor, Gillis 2 (Nishizaki, Anger), 10:49
5. Western, Corbeil 2 (Farmanara, Lamb), 11:02
6. Western, Corbeil 3 (Piva), 18:06
Penalties-Nemeth Uwo (interference), 1:49; Swit Uwo (high sticking), 2:58; Ferry Wsr (tripping), 4:43; Snow Uwo (cross checking), 14:58; Tront Wsr (high sticking), 19:55.
3rd Period
7. Western, Corbeil 4 (Martin), 19:59 (en)
Penalties-Lamb Uwo (slashing), 4:44; Farmanara Uwo (cross checking), 5:58; Martinelli Uwo (inter. on goaltender), 8:58; Todd Wsr (elbowing), 11:48; Ferry Wsr (slashing), 17:02.
Scoring By 1 2 3 T
Windsor 0 2 0 2
Western 2 2 1 5
Shots on Goal 1 2 3 T
Western 19 10 17 46
Windsor 13 13 10 36
Powerplays: Windsor 1/8; Western 1/5.
Goalies: Windsor, (L, Watt 2-2-0, 41 saves on 45 shots). Western, (W,Hunt 3-1-0, 34 saves on 36 shots)
Referees: Steve Gould
Linesmen: Chris Fraumeni, Mike Sangster
