OTTAWA, Ont. -- The Western Mustangs dropped a pair of games (14-10 to the York Lions and 15-12 to the Ottawa Gee Gees) on Friday, as Day 1 of the OUA Championships got underway at Carleton University.

Western opened the weekend with a loss to York, despite a close contest. The Lions took an early 6-4 lead after the opening period, and led 9-5 after the second. The Mustangs managed to pull to within 10-8 in the third, thanks in part to a pair of goals by Daniel Abraham (Port of Spain). But the Lions outscored Western 4-2 in the fourth to put the game away.

Jason Carter (Vancouver, BC) led the Mustangs with four goals, while Abraham tallied three. Stefan Djordjevic paced the Lions in scoring, tallying a goal in each period. Straun Wefers and Josip Cvitanovic, meanwhile, had three scores apiece.

Against the University of Ottawa, the Mustangs jumped out to a 3-1 lead after the first period thanks to a trio of goals by Abraham. The Gee Gees came back with five scores of their own in the second and took a 6-5 lead after two. Leading 10-9 after three, Pat Caughers then took over in the final period, notching a hat trick to help lead the Gee Gees to the 15-12 win.

Abraham led the Mustangs in scoring once again with five goals, while Matthew Abraham (Port of Spain) had four and Simon Mills (Ottawa, Ont.) had two. Edgardo Montes led Ottawa with four goals, while Tristan Tremblay, Corbin Tremblay and Caughers had three apiece.

The Mustangs are back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 19, for a 2:10 p.m. game against the McMaster Marauders, where they’ll need to win to have any chance at a podium finish.