LONDON, Ont. - The Western Mustangs lost 3-2 in an aggressive battle with the Toronto Varsity Blues Sunday afternoon at Thompson Arena.

Katie Dillon (Oshawa, Ont.) scored the two Mustangs goals, while Alison Li (Richmond, BC) turned away 26 shots in the second loss of the weekend.

The game opened strong with both teams trying to put points on the board. The Varsity Blues had many attempts on net, including two shots off the cross-bar. Tara Cation (Caledon, Ont.) brought some aggression to the ice, earning herself two penalties in the first period. Li was resilient and both teams remained scoreless at the end of the period.

Toronto did not waste any time in the second, scoring within the first 57 seconds of game play by Brenley Jorgensen. The Blues continued with their momentum and capitalized on a power play opportunity 5 minutes later, firing the puck past Li’s glove and making the score 2-0.

Tempers flared as Western and Toronto were handed unison penalties at 14:26 on the clock. The Varsity Blues then followed with another penalty 25 seconds later, giving the Mustangs the advantage they had been looking for. Dillon scored the power play goal for the Mustangs, assisted by Cation and Michelle Saunders (Oakville, Ont.) at 16:11. The score remained 2-1 for Toronto heading into the third.

There was no shortage of penalties in the last period. Western’s Lindsay Repath (Thornhill, Ont.) and Toronto’s Natalie Hughes were both sent to the penalty box for slashing with 2:53 on the clock. Toronto continued with rough game play, earning them another penalty one minute later. Repath pushed to the Toronto zone with a close tip opportunity but Western could not utilize their man-advantage for a goal.

Saunders was sent to the box for body checking, allowing the Varsity Blues to net their second power play goal of the afternoon. Lindsay Gidomski (Mississauga, Ont.) answered by pushing through the Toronto defense and sending the puck across the net to Dillon, who smashed the puck into the top right corner to make the score 3-2. Coincidental penalties were handed to Dillon and Jorgensen with 8 seconds left in the period. Neither team gained an advantage, closing the game at 3-2 for the Blues.

The Mustangs will face-off against Laurier in their next home game on Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. in Thompson Arena.