Box Score LONDON, Ont.  – Zach Harnden scored the game-winner late in the third period and Josh Unice's brilliant play helped the Mustangs shut down the OUA's number-one ranked power play en route to 3-2 victory over the Ryerson Rams on Wednesday night at Thompson Arena.
 
Prior to the game a moment of silence was held for Major W. J. "Danny" McLeod, the founder of the University Cup who passed away Tuesday at the age of 92. A legend in Canadian university sport, McLeod simultaneously coached the Kingston Frontenacs, the RMC Paladins, and the Kingston Aces at one point and—after his retirement from RMC— proceeded to join the NHL as supervisor of officials where he was responsible for training all officials for the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and USSR.
 
To read more about McLeod and his legacy, click here.
 
Coming into Wednesday night's game, which saw the visitors go 0-for-5 with the man advantage, Ryerson had scored on the power play in four of their last five games and sat first in the OUA with an overall success rate of 27.5%.  After the game, assistant coach Cam O'Donnell could only speculate as to why the Mustangs were able to shut down such a potent power play.
 
"From a tactical perspective we've been able to create a little more down-ice pressure, trying to keep teams out of our zone as much as we can," said O'Donnell. "I think that was probably the key tonight as we were pretty successful disrupting their breakout and it translates into killing off 30 or 40 seconds sometimes which—if you can do that – it minimizes the amount of time in your zone."
 
"That's what you have to do against power plays that are very effective," he added.
 
At the start of the game the ice seemed tilted in the Rams' favour, with Ryerson controlling play for the better half of the first ten minutes. Although the Mustangs seemed to find their feet at about the mid-point of the frame, the Rams still managed to reap a reward for the hard work, cashing in for their first goal of the game with 6:14 on the clock.
 
The Rams' first goal came off the stick of their second-leading scorer, Dominic Alberga, who ripped a shot from the point over Unice's right shoulder. Scoring is nothing new for the rookie Ryerson forward, who currently sits second in OUA scoring with 35 points behind only his teammate Jamie Wise.
 
Four minutes later, the Mustangs would get a goal of their own, capitalizing on a high sticking penalty to Ryerson's Michael Fine and tying the game at a goal a-piece. The tally came from rookie forward Stefan Salituro, who kept the puck on a 2-on-1 and slipped it short side on Rams' backstop Troy Passingham.
 
The Mustangs started the second period down a man, thanks to a high sticking double minor assessed to Kyle De Coste with time ticking down in the first. Despite killing off the penalty, Western was unable to gain much momentum in the minutes that followed, once again spending a majority of the first half trapped inside their own zone.
 
At the midpoint of the period, a drop pass from Adam McKee to Daniel Erlich almost got the Mustangs on the board with Erlich using his unique patience to get Passingham on his back before just missing the gaping cage. Eight minutes later, though, Erlich would make up for his miss, helping Western get on the board with a shot that careened off Passingham before hitting Reese's shoulder and finding its way into the net.
 
"Erlich has many ways of getting the team going," O'Donnell said of the sophomore forward after the game. "He's an exciting guy to watch play—he's a super skilled kid and he's a really great kid to have on the team."
 
Reese's goal marked the second power play goal of the game for the Mustangs. For a team that came out looking to stymie the league's number one unit, Western didn't do so bad themselves.
 
"I'm always confident when our power play guys step on the ice," O'Donnell said after the game. "Power plays are a funny thing, they wax and wane a little bit—you can get a lot of really good chances and not score goals and some nights you do everything wrong and you score a couple."
 
After stopping an impressive 29 of 30 shots through the first two periods, Unice was forced to be even stronger in the third, turning away a number of quality Ryerson chances including a point shot through traffic midway through the frame.  In total, Unice stopped 14 shots in the period to keep his team in the game, bringing his total saves for the game up to 43.
 
"Josh is a real competitive guy," said O'Donnell. "He competes really hard– he doesn't like to lose and that's a big part of our program, why we win games. It's because we have guys like that."
 
But despite his strong play, the Rams would get to the veteran netminder with just under five minutes left in the third with Alberga scoring his second of the game at 4:15, once again with the help of teammate Jamie Wise. The Mustangs were able to answer quickly though, with Harnden putting the Mustangs ahead for good with a tip in front only a minute later, sending the fans home happy and giving Western an important two points.
 
Next, the Mustangs will turn their attention to the Brock Badgers, who currently sit eighth in the West Division with a record of 8-8-3. That game will take place on Friday at the Seymour-Hannah Centre in St. Catharines. Puck drop is set for 7:15 p.m.