Box Score TORONTO, Ont. – Entering their final week of play for the first half of the 2012-13 season, the Western Mustangs took to the road on Thursday night looking to extend their winning streak to ten straight games with a win over the York Lions.
 
Not only did Western make it to ten straight wins, they did it in dramatic fashion, exploding for a 10-5 win with Matt Clarke and Julian Cimadamore recording hat tricks in the victory.
 
With the win the Mustangs move to 12-3 on the season and take sole possession of first place in the OUA.
 
Following the game interim head coach Patrick Powers was pleased with the win, but pointed out the team can still improve. "Its nice to get a win on the road and to score ten goals but we can't continue to allow the number of goals we are if we want to be successful moving forward," said Powers.
 
Clarke led all players in scoring adding three assists on top of his hat trick to record six points on the night, moving him to 26 on the year, good for first place in the CIS. Cimadamore was just behind Clarke with four points, contributing an assist to go along with his own three goal performance. In all six different Mustangs found the back of the net while 12 earned at least a point on the score sheet. Michael Santini led the Lions offence netting two goals, while Mackenzie Micks and Evan Gravenor each added a pair of assists.
 
Between the pipes Josh Unice picked up his tenth win of the season stopping 22 shots. David Blair took the loss for York, allowing five goals on 17 shots in relief, however he split time almost evenly with starter Andrew Perugini who also let in five goals, stopping 14 of the 19 shots he faced.
 
As is typically the case in high scoring contests the two teams didn’t wait long before getting the offence going as Clarke opened the scoring only 24 seconds into the game. Cimadamore put himself on the score sheet less than five minutes later, giving the Mustangs a 2-0 lead that would be cut in half shortly thereafter as York’s Michael Santini found the back of net at 7:11 of the first period.
 
Adam McKee would put Western in front by two just past the fifteen minute mark, sending the Mustangs to the dressing room with a 3-1 lead.
 
The second frame started nearly as quickly as the first when Adam Stoykewych, off of assists from Daniel Erlich and Clarke, scored a power play marker just over a minute into the period. Midway through the second set the two teams would combine for a furious offensive showcase, scoring four goals within the span of six minutes and 28 seconds.

Cimadamore recorded his second and third goals of the night (8:28 and 11:28 respectively) during this span with Clarke scoring the other Western goal at 14:56. Mike Lombardi provided the goal for the Lions, beating Unice at 10:14.
 
Late in the frame Santini netted his second and final goal of the night, cutting the Mustangs lead to 7-3 entering the third period.
 
Again in the third goals would come in bunches as Western scored three straight goals early in the period with Clarke, Brandon Greenside and Andrew Eastman all firing shots into the York just with just over four minutes between the first and last goals.
 
The Lions refused to roll over, with Mark Cross and Jordan Forfar each scoring a goal midway through the period, but it was not enough, and Western picked up a 10-5 victory.
 
Now holding the top spot in the OUA the Mustangs have a few days off before hosting a return match with the Brock Badgers on Sunday afternoon at the Thompson Arena. The two teams needed overtime to settle their last contest as Western earned a 5-4 win.
 
Puck drop for Sunday’s contest is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Thompson Arena. The game will also be carried live on CHRW Radio and streamed on Mustangs TV at this link: http://www.ssncanada.ca/game/4480/