WINDSOR, Ont. – The Western Mustangs defeated the Windsor Lancers 3-1 to win the best-of-three OUA West Semifinal series in two straight games on Feb. 26. 

With the win, Western advances to the OUA West Finals to play the Lakehead Thunderwolves, who defeated the Guelph Gryphons 5-4 in overtime on Wednesday March 3 in Thunder Bay, Ont.,, to win the other OUA West semifinal.

Game 1 of the series will be played on Wednesday March 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ont., Game 2 will be back in London, Ont., on Saturday March 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Thompson Arena, with Game 3, if necessary, played on Sunday March 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Thompson Arena. To order tickets, click here.

Geoff Killing (Embro, Ont.), Aaron Snow (Windsor, Ont.) and Yashar Farmanara (West Vancouver, B.C.) scored Western’s goals while Josh Gaynor scored the only goal for Windsor.

The Lancers notched the first goal of the contest after Mark Thorburn’s shot was blocked by Mustangs netminder Keyvan Hunt (Coquitlam, B.C.) but Gaynor jumped on the rebound and snuck a shot past Hunt to take a 1-0 lead.

Western countered Windsor’s goal and attacked the offensive zone full tilt. Killing streaked down the right wing and wired a shot through Lancer Jim Watt’s legs only two minutes later to tie the game heading into the second frame.

The Mustangs carried their offensive pressure into the second period and after cycling the puck down low, Snow released a shot through the traffic in front of the net and past Watt for a 2-1 lead.

The third period was a back-and-forth battle between the two competitors with all players throwing their weight into big hits and fast plays. Despite a challenging battle, Western held the Lancers scoreless in the third period. Farmanara netted an empty net goal with thirty seconds remaining in the game to secure the Mustangs victory.

Hunt played outstanding, backing the Mustangs with solid goaltending and turning aside 37 Windsor shots for the victory.