WATERLOO, Ont – The Mustangs women’s hockey team is headed to the OUA championship after they defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks 1-0 in game three of the best-of-three series.
 
The game was a tightly contested match with neither team wanting to give up the first goal. As a result, the game remained scoreless for the first two periods.
 
Western, however, pressed hard in the first, outshooting the Golden Hawks 17-3 in the first frame, while the second period saw a complete reversal with the Golden Hawks racking up 17 shots to Western’s seven.
 
Finally, at 14:17 in the third period, Kendra Deller was fed a pass from Stacey Scott and was able to put the puck by Laurier goaltender Erika Thunder to give the Mustangs the 1-0 lead with a little more than five minutes to play.
 
With their season on the line, the Golden Hawks pressed hard in the dying minutes, but Mustangs keeper Kelly Campbell had another outstanding performance, denying all 29 shots that came her way.
 
This is the second year in a row the Mustangs will be returing to the OUA finals. Last year they lost to the Laurier Golden Hawks two games to none in the three game championship series.
 
However, this year after knocking out the defending champions, the Mustangs will be facing the Queen’s Gaels, who made it to the final after they swept the Guelph Gryphons in their series.
 
The Mustangs took the season series, winning two games in the first half of the season while Queen's took the final matchup in February. Each game was won by a 3-2 score.
 
Check out www.westernmustangs.ca for upcoming dates and times for the OUA championship.