Box Score LONDON, Ont. – Coming off a two game sweep of the UOIT Ridgebacks in their OUA West Quarterfinal series the Western Mustangs returned to the ice for round two, hosting the Waterloo Warriors on Thursday night. Despite falling behind 1-0 in the third period the Mustangs responded with three unanswered goals to take the first game of the series 3-1.

The game was a fast paced physical affair from the opening puck drop until the final buzzer with neither team shying away from taking the body. For a game featuring two of the country’s best offensive teams the night’s big theme was the play of strong team defence and lights out goaltending from both teams.

Mustang’s goaltender Josh Unice was busy early and often, in the first he stood strong while facing a barrage of shots in the opening minutes. Both teams exchanged scoring chances with the Mustangs forward Shaun Furlong receiving the best chance of the period as he just missed a deflection into the open side of the net.

The hard hitting tight defensive game continued into the second period, as both teams again exchanged several scoring chances but neither team was able to put one past the opposing netminder. Waterloo goaltender Keaton Hartigan stopped the Mustangs on several good scoring chances to keep the game even at zero.

The game remained tied until midway through the third period when Warriors forward Justin Larson scored to put the Warriors in the lead. However Waterloo’s lead wouldn’t last long as Mustangs forward Daniel Erlich fired a shot from the point that beat Hartigan five hole to tie the game. But Western’s offence didn’t stop there, forward Zach Harnden scored his first goal of the playoffs and the team’s second goal of the game to put the Mustangs in the lead with 9:39 to play. Harden’s goal was also assisted by Erlich for his second point of the game.

With just over a minute left in the third period Waterloo pulled their goalie in a last ditch effort to tie the game, but the Warriors would have no such luck as Erlich stole the puck and scored on the empty net to seal game one for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs played a tough defensive game highlighted by the play of Unice who made 27 saves in the 3-1 win. After the game Mustangs coach Patrick Powers commented on the team’s defensive play “we gave them more shots then we hoped to but a lot of the shots were from the outside, we did a good job of clearing rebounds and alleviating the pressure”.

Powers also commented Erlich and his contributions so far in the playoffs saying that “he’s tightened up his defence game and it hasn’t come at the sacrifice of his offensive game.” Erlich’s three points now give him eight for the post-season with three goals and five assists.
 
Western now heads on the road for game two of the best-of-three series, with game time set for Saturday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Waterloo at the CIF Arena.