Box Score OSHAWA, Ont. – A hat trick from Steve Reese and two goals from Shaun Furlong propelled the Western Mustangs men’s hockey team into the OUA West Semi-finals, defeating the UOIT Ridgebacks 5-2 on Saturday night, and taking the series in two straight games.

"It was great to be able to close out the series on the road against a team who you really can't afford to give any life against," said interim head coach Patrick Powers. "I thought our team did a great job sticking to our game plan, particularly when the game got physical, and we were rewarded for it in the end."

Unlike Thursday’s game that featured eight different goal scorers and a balanced attack, the Mustangs were led by a pair of players on Saturday with Reese and Furlong providing all of the offence, scoring three and two goals respectively. Similarly, both of the Ridgebacks goals came from a single source as rookie Colt Kennedy added to goals to his assist from game one on Thursday.
 
Josh Unice picked up the win in the Western net, making 24 saves on 26 shots including turning away a number of strong scoring chances while on the penalty kill. Bryce O’Hagan got the start for the Ridgebacks and stopped 27 of the 32 shots sent his way.
 
After a high-scoring game on Thursday neither team got out to a hot start on Saturday, with both sides remaining scoreless throughout the majority of the opening 20 minutes. Furlong got things started with less than three minutes left in the frame, scoring his second of the series to give Western a 1-0 lead heading into the second.
 
Kennedy didn’t wait long to respond for UOIT, scoring less than 90 seconds into the new period to tie the game up at one goal per side.
 
Much like the first, the majority of the second period would pass without a goal, until Reese scored his first of the series at 15:26 to put the Mustangs in front 2-1, a lead they’d take into the second intermission.
 
Reese extended Western’s lead just over three minutes into the third stanza, scoring a power play marking off of an assist from Adam Stoykewych. Unfortunately for the Ridgebacks faithful the Mustangs would never relinquish their lead, eventually claiming a 5-2 victory after goals from Reese and Furlong.
 
Western now gets set for the OUA West Semi-finals against the Waterloo Warriors. Game one is set for Thursday, February 21 at Thompson Arena, with puck drop scheduled for just after 7:00 p.m.