Following a first half that saw the Western Mustangs put up the best record in the OUA at 13-3, Western returns to action following the winter break this week with games against Brock and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. The Mustangs enter this week’s action riding an 11-game winning streak, having not lost a game since October 26, and were listed in fifth place on the final CIS Top 10 of the first semester.
Matt Clarke leads the Mustangs on offence, putting up 26 points (12 goals and 14 assists) in his first 16 games in the purple and white. The London native ranks second in both the CIS and OUA in points scored, one point behind Windsor’s Spencer Pommells. Just off the lead is Steve Reese who places fourth on the CIS scoring list with 24 points (five goals and 19 assists).
Rounding out the top five scorers for Western are first-year forward, and former London Knight, Daniel Erlich (20 points with three goals and 17 assists), Zach Harnden (19 points with 12 goals and seven assists), and Kyle De Coste (17 points with seven goals and 10 assists).
Between the pipes fourth-year goalie Josh Unice is having another stellar season, holding an 11-2 record in the first half of the season while posting a 2.67 goals against average and .915 save percentage with one shut out.
UOIT begins the second half in eighth place in the OUA West holding a 6-9-1 record, good for 13 points on the season. The team is led on offence by the trio of Luke VanMoerkerke, Jessie Stoughton, and Connor Tresham. The three forwards have have totaled 41 points on the season with VanMoerkerke racking up 15 points, while Stoughton and Tresham have both put 13 points on the board.
Rookie netminder Dalton McGrath has received the bulk of the playing time this season, posting a 5-6 record that includes a 3.34 goals against average and .904 save percentage.
Today’s game is the first meeting between Western and UOIT this season but the two squads should become familiar with one another quite quickly as they’ll have a return match next Saturday in Oshawa. The teams will then face off one more time in the regular season when the Ridgebacks return to Thompson Arena on January 25.
