Western advances to OUA Final for fourth consecutive season

The Western Mustangs women's lacrosse team continued their playoff run at the OUA Championships Saturday evening with a 15-10 win over the home team Queen's Gaels. With the win, the Mustangs move into the OUA Championship final for the fourth consecutive season, this time facing the Guelph Gryphons on Sunday at 3:45pm.

Braving the hostile winds and comparable Queen's home crowd, Western went up on the scoreboard within the first three minutes when Tenyka Snider was leveled to the ground by a Queen's defender. Snider nailed the free position to start Western on a 6-0 run.

At the 16 minute mark, Queen's finally managed to get past the strong Mustang defence line. The Gaels continued to struggle with Western's speed and took two fouls and two yellow cards in the first half. The Mustangs capitalized and took a 9-3 lead heading to halftime.

The second half had as much energy and back-and-forth pressure as the first. Queen's received four additional yellow cards to total six for the entire game. Both teams were also delayed as the stadium lights went out with five minutes left to play. After a 20 minute break to fix the facility issue, Western took its 15-10 lead and held the ball to finish off strong and send Queen's to the bronze medal game.

Mustangs head coach Dave Hastings was pleased with the win and proud of the team's effort. "The girls battled through another physical game and finished strong," he said. "Becca Watson stepped up with a great goal to nail in the coffin."

Tawnie Johnson led the way for Western with four goals, followed by Tenyka Snider with four goals and one assist. Michelle Farrugia (2G, 1A), Tasha MacDonald (2G), Maddy Crowther (1G), and Jesse Porter (1G) also contributed to the Mustangs' final score in the semifinal.

Western will face Guelph in the finals tomorrow at Tindall field at 3:45 pm.

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