Following last weekend’s trip to Thunder Bay the Western Mustangs men’s hockey team is set for another northern excursion, heading up to North Bay to face Nipissing in a Friday night clash. The Lakers are currently in the middle of the pack in the OUA East with a 3-4 record and look to get back to the .500 mark while the Mustangs sit at 3-3, good for seventh place in the OUA West.
 
Nipssing has some firepower with Conor O’Donnell and Vern Cooper both near the tops in league scoring and both can put the puck in the net with great proficiency. If the Mustangs look to start the weekend off with a victory they will limiting both O’Donnell and Cooper will be a key factor.
 
For the Mustangs last year’s CIS Rookie of the Year Zach Harnden leads the team with five goals in only six games which puts him near the top of the OUA. Forward Steve Reese and defenseman Daniel Erlich continue to provide secondary scoring as the team is starting to come together at the right time. Ohio native and former USA national junior team member Josh Unice has been more than steady between the pipes with a 2.61 GAA and a .912 save percentage putting himself near the upper half of the league once again.
 
For the Lakers the bulk of their goaltending duties have been bestowed upon Daniel Spence as the team is starting to find the right formula for wins in the competitive OUA East. Spence has a .901 save percentage and a 3.67 GAA. The offence for the Lakers has been fairly spread out with Jeff Leasit and Grant Toulmin providing the bulk of the secondary scoring behind O’Donnell and Cooper. The North Bay squad looks for their second consecutive win but will be in tough against a hungry Western opponent.
 
The Friday night action begins at 7:00 p.m. in North Bay. SSN Canada will be carrying the live stream on their website.