LONDON, Ont.- The Western Mustangs women’s hockey team hosted the Toronto Varsity Blues Sunday afternoon and came up short, losing 3-1. Toronto handed Western its first loss since January 21.

The Varsity Blues were able to capitalize on a hooking penalty taken by Mustang player Stacey Scott only 1:46 into the first frame.

Kelly O’Hanlon beat Mustang goalie Olivia Ross after Amanda Ricker and Amanda Fawns did some work to get the puck to her.

Toronto took two penalties before the first period expired, but Western was unable to capitalize on the powerplay.

The Varsity Blues notched another powerplay marker at 15:18 of the second. Brittany Kirby scored her first goal of the season, with assists being given to April Looije and Karolina Urban.

The Mustangs had a few quality chances but were unable to beat Varsity Blues goaltender Krista Funke, who was impressive in net stopping 31 of the 32 shots she faced.

Ricker put Toronto up 3-0 with her seventh goal of the season at 2:57 of the third. Teammates O’Hanlon and Fawns earned assists on the goal.

Mustangs Casey Rosen scored a nice unassisted shorthanded goal at 9:05, giving her team some momentum while at the same time sparking some frustration from the Varsity Blues bench. The officials needed some time to discuss whether the puck did in fact cross the line, and when the referee confirmed that was the case, Toronto appeared to disagree. 

Western came close to pulling to within one with goalie Ross pulled, but Funke was exceptional for the Varsity Blues and ultimately earned her team two points.

The Mustangs return to action Friday, February 10^th at Thompson Arena as they host the Windsor Lancers with a scheduled 7:30 PM puck drop. For tickets please visit http://westernmustangstickets.universitytickets.com/user_pages/category.asp?id=84.