After opening the season with back-to-back wins over Concordia and UQTR this past weekend, the Western Mustangs (2-0) will look to stay undefeated on the year when they take on the Toronto Varsity Blues (2-1) at Varsity Arena on Friday.
 
The Varsity Blues are coming off of a big 7-3 victory over Ryerson on Wednesday which saw them overcome an early two-goal deficit and pepper the Rams goaltenders with 45 shots and six goals in the first two periods. Perhaps even more impressive was the performance of Toronto goaltender Brett Willows, who stopped 50 of the 53 Rams shots in the game and 17 in the final frame alone.
 
In two games this season, Willows is 2-0 with a 2.50 goals against average and an impressive .943 save percentage. The strong numbers are nothing new to Toronto's starting goaltender, whose .937 save percentage and 2.36 goals against average last year were good enough for second and third in the OUA, respectively.
 
Although he's the Varsity Blues starter, the netminder wore a different shade of blue on Thursday night as he donned the blue and white of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Willows got the call to serve as the team's emergency backup after an injury to James Reimer 32 seconds into the Leafs 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
 
Willows will have to be back on top of his game on Friday night as he'll be up against a number of Mustangs who find themselves hot to start the season.
 
Daniel Erlich has picked up where he left off in last years playoffs, setting up five goals in the first two games including a four assist performance against UOIT on Saturday. Matt Clarke has also failed to miss a beat, proving that his team leading 42 points in last year's regular season weren't a fluke with four points in two games.
 
Clarke also provided what may be the highlight of the short season on Friday, scoring the overtime winner against Concordia to give the Mustangs a 3-2 victory in their home opener. While both of the Mustangs games this season have proven to be nail-biters, Western certainly isn't going to complain about opening the season undefeated.
 
"There are games when things aren't going your way, you've got to find ways to win," said Clarke after Friday's matchup against the Stingers. "It's not always going to be pretty. If you learn how to win ugly right away it can go a long way."
 
Puck drop on Friday is set for 7:30 p.m.