LONDON, Ont. – A quick start by the Waterloo Warriors spoiled the Homecoming party at Alumni Field as the Warriors defeated the Western Mustangs women's rugby team 19-12 on Saturday.

With purple-clad Western fans filling the sidelines and the sounds of Homecoming celebrations providing a soundtrack for the game, the Warriors knew they would have to set the tone early if they wanted to play spoiler. Kourtney King made that plan a reality, running in Waterloo's first try less than eight minutes into the game to inject life into her bench and silence the Western faithful.

A Penalty Goal from Megan Colwell at the 28th minute helped the Warriors extend that lead and by the end of the first half the score stood at 8-0 Waterloo. It was a disappointing start to the match for the Mustangs, who went into Saturday's game with a 2-1 record and a chance to leap-frog Waterloo in the standings, but their upbeat demeanour at halftime proved they weren't planning to go down without a fight.

Much like in the first half, however, the Warriors were able to set the tone early after the intermission, scoring a Penalty Goal off the foot of Colwell less than two minutes after the opening whistle. The Mustangs would not let Waterloo's points go unanswered, registering their first try of the game only four minutes later with a great effort from Danielle Spice. 

Unfortunately for the Mustangs, that would be as close as the team would get for the rest of the day as the Warriors added a Penalty Goal at 58 minutes and a try in the 64th minute to go up 19-5. The Mustangs did make add a try and a conversion to cut the Warriors lead to seven, but Waterloo was able to contain the surging Western offence and come away with the 19-12 victory.

Western will take to the field again next Saturday, October 5, in Waterloo against the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Mustangs currently sit third place in the Shiels Division with a record of 2-2 while the Golden Hawks are in fifth and will look for their second win of the season in the final regular season contest for both teams.