Box Score LONDON, Ont. – Matt Clarke, Luke Karaim and Adam Stoykewych scored in the final frame while Daniel Erlich dished out four assists to help the Mustangs men's hockey team to an impressive 7-2 win over the UOIT Ridgebacks on Friday night at Thompson Arena.
 
The blowout win came after two straight losses last weekend to Ottawa and McGill. After the game head coach Clarke Singer noted he was happy with the team's bounce-back effort. 
 
"We talked about a lot of things that we had to improve on after last weekend and I thought we made some improvements in some areas," said Singer. "We let them back in the game there late in the second but I'm glad to see our guys push back there in the third; I asked them to do that."
 
Matt Marantz capitalized on a lucky bounce for the Mustangs' first goal of the night as the sophomore banked the puck in off the back of UOIT goaltender Jacob Rattie from behind the net.
 
He wouldn't have much of a chance on Western's second goal of the period as Zach Harnden launched a howitzer over his shoulder with 15 seconds left. With the Mustangs buzzing around the Ridgebacks' net for much of the last five minutes, Harnden kept what appeared to be a dead play going with a steal in front of the net before circling back around and finishing it off with a pass from Steve Reese.
 
The Mustangs carried their momentum from the first into the second, notching two goals in the first ten minutes to go up by four. Stefan Salituro scored on the power play just under four minutes into the period before Matt Clarke pounced on a rebound at 13:36.
 
But penalty trouble from the Mustangs in the latter half of the second allowed the Ridgebacks to jump back in the game. UOIT's Mitch Bennett got the Ridgebacks on the board with a shot through a screen on a 5-on-3 before Jake Logan cut the deficit with a power play goal of his own less than a minute later, making it 4-2.
 
"You can't let teams back in the game," Singer said. "It was over—the game was over—we were up by four [in the second] and all of a sudden we let them back in and anything can happen then.
 
We talked about it and it's something that we have to improve on. I think the guys are aware of it, we've just got to actually make sure it happens on the ice."
 
To top off the Mustangs' already tough second period, rookie defenseman Alex Micalef was forced to leave the game after suffering a laceration to his wrist during a scrum in the corner. After the game, Singer was still unsure about the damage but was optimistic about getting Micalef back soon.
 
"Just a deep cut—I haven't gotten the full report yet but fortunately I don't think it's ligament or tendon damage," Singer said. "It's just going to be a bunch of stitches but he'll be back sooner than later I think."
 
Micalef may not have been back for the third period but the Mustangs' offense clearly was as Clarke potted his second of the game 2:16 into the final frame. The goal came on a delayed penalty and was the result of a nifty pass from Matt Marantz, whose assist was his second of the night and marked his third point of the game.
 
Luke Karaim added the extra insurance that the Mustangs were looking for with just under nine minutes left in the frame, potting his second goal of the season on a breakaway. UOIT's second backstop Colin Dzijacky did his best to keep the deficit at four, absolutely robbing Erlich with just over seven minutes left, but Adam Stoykewych would put the game out of reach with his third goal of the season a minute later.
 
Although Erlich may not have recorded a goal, the sophomore forward's four assists on the night now launch him into a tie for first on the OUA scoring leaderboard with 20 points. He has been spectacular for Western this season, posting a point in every regulation contest to give him four goals and 16 assists in just nine games.
 
Josh Unice had a great bounce-back effort in net for the Mustangs, posting 26 saves for his fourth win of the season. Singer was quick to credit the veteran net-minder for his effort after the game.
 
"He gave us another solid effort as he usually does," Singer said. "To Josh's credit we haven't given him a lot of help this year in a number of areas and he's not been the problem at all through some of the losses. I thought we were better in front of him tonight."
 
The Mustangs are back on the ice tomorrow night when the Queen's Gaels roll into town for the first meeting of the two teams this season. Western will be looking to hand Queen's their first regulation loss of the year as the Gaels currently sit in first place in the East division at 6-0-4. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m at Thompson Arena.