NORTH BAY, Ont. – A 21-shot, two-goal second period gave Western a lead they would not relinquish on Sunday afternoon as the Mustangs ended their two-game losing skid with a 3-2 victory over the Nipissing Lakers at Memorial Gardens.

After the Mustangs dropped a 5-1 decision to Windsor on Friday, head coach Clarke Singer wasn't shy when talking about the importance of Sunday's game against the Lakers, calling it flat out the team's "biggest game of the year." His team responded by throwing everything they had at Nipissing, registering 32 shots through the first two periods and adding another 10 in the third.

Greg Dodds got the call for the Mustangs and responded with a solid effort, bouncing back from a rough two-goal first period to shut out the Lakers in the final two frames. The win on Sunday marks Dodds' fourth of his OUA career as the rookie goaltender now has a record of 4-1-0 to go with his impressive 0.956 save percentage and 1.26 goals against average.

The Mustangs got out to a quick start in the game, getting a goal from Daniel Erlich 8:37 into the first period to take a 1-0 lead.  Erlich's goal snapped his two-game pointless streak and was the first of three points on the afternoon for the sophomore forward as he picked up two assists in the Mustangs' big second period.

But the Mustangs' lead did not stand for long as the Lakers scored two of their own in the period, beginning with a power play goal from veteran forward Matt Paton just under six minutes later. Paton's marker was followed shortly after by a shorthanded tally from teammate Connor O'Donnell, whose two points on Sunday put the rookie forward third in the OUA scoring race with 25 points.

The second period would be a completely different story, however, as Western came out with a renewed sense of direction, determined to turn their luck around. And turn their luck around they did, firing a season-high 21 shots on net and scoring a pair of goals in the process, capitalizing on a late 5-on-3 for the game-tying goal before adding what would be the game-winner under a minute later. 

The second period offensive push came at the hands of familiar faces for the Mustangs as the goals came from Matt Clarke and Steve Reese, respectively. Erlich assisted on both of the power play markers while Clarke added an assist of his on Reese's tally to finish with a two-point night.

Western will have one more game before the end of the calendar year and it will be a big one as they travel to Detroit on Monday, Dec. 16 to seek revenge against the Windsor Lancers in an outdoor game at Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers. The matchup is part of the 2014 SiriusXM Hockeytown Winter Festival and is expected to draw crowds of over 250,000 people.

Notes

Erlich's three-point night launches him back into the OUA scoring race as the sophomore forward now sits tied for second with 25 points (7G 18A). The point lead is currently held by two Ryerson players, Dominic Alberga and Jamie Wise, who both have 27 points in 13 games so far this season.

Rookie forward Stefan Salituro also got back on the score sheet for the Mustangs after a one-game drought, assisting on Erlich's first-period goal to give him seven points in his last seven games. Salituro entered Friday's game on a two-game point streak and six points in his previous five games.

First-year defenseman Colin MacDonald registered his first OUA point on Sunday, picking up the primary assist on Erlich's goal. The steady defenseman came to the Mustangs this year after captaining the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL last season and has appeared in all 14 of Western's games so far.

Nipissing may sit second-last in the OUA but their team does feature two of the league's highest scoring players in Connor O'Donnell and Grant Toulmin. O'Donnell (9G, 16A) and Toulmin (11G, 11A) currently sit tied for second and fifth in the OUA's scoring race with 25 points and 22, respectively.

The Mustangs still hold fifth place in the OUA West with 18 points, although they only sit four points out of first and hold at least a game in hand over every team ahead of them save for first-place Lakehead.