The Mustangs begin the final stretch of the regular season at home this weekend playing three games in three days against Ryerson, Toronto, and Windsor after last weekend's game against the Lancers was postponed due to the weather.

The last time the Mustangs played three games in the same weekend was over the winter break at the Martlet Holiday Classic in Montreal where the purple and white went 2-1 en route to a second place finish.  This weekend's hat trick of games kick off a five-game home stand as the Mustangs finally return to Thompson Arena after being on the road since November 23.  Although the Western squad will have home ice advantage in this week's games, that road-game stretch seems to have worked in their favour as the purple and white have dropped only one of their previous five games as they skated to an 8-4 regular season record when playing in enemy territory against the UOIT Ridgebacks.  Despite the loss to UOIT that ended the team's four-game winning streak the Mustangs remain in good standing - tied for sixth in the OUA standings as they share an 11-7-1 record with the Windsor Lancers. 

Western's recent success has a lot to do with solid all-around team play with a well-distributed offence from many secondary sources that include blue liners Brianna Iazzolino (3G-7A-10P) and assistant captain Katelyn Gosling (3G-5A-8P). The goaltending tandem of Olivia Ross and Kelly Campbell have also been quite dependable between the pipes, playing behind a veteran defensive core while getting help at the other end of the rink from team scoring leaders Carly Rolph (5G-10A-15P) and London natives Cassidy Gosling (3G-12A-15P) and Stacey Scott (7G-7A-14P).

With only five contests remaining in the regular season every game counts as the purple and white look to move up the standings and acquire home ice advantage for the first round of playoffs. The team has a great opportunity to do so, sitting just two points from fifth place with two games in hand; however, the path to the post-season will not be an easy one. Four out of the five remaining contests come against teams in playoff positions that will be just as hungry for points as the Mustangs as they prepare for their playoff push. 

Mustangs vs. Ryerson – Friday, January 31 at 7 PM - Watch Live on Mustangs TV

After falling to Guelph in a shootout last weekend, the Ryerson Rams dropped to 1-8-1 in their last ten games, giving them an overall 5-15-1 regular season record.  While the team's record leaves them tied for last in the OUA they will be looking to play spolier on Friday night and throw a wrench into the Mustangs playoff plans.

Despite being winless in their last nine contests, the Rams are coming up against a Western squad that they have previously beaten this season.  In their last meeting the Mustangs were defeated by a score of 1-0 as rookie goalie Alex Armstrong recorded the shutout. 

While they may turn to Armstrong again to stymy Western's offensive attack, they will need a solid performance from team scoring leaders Melissa Wronzberg (7G-3A-10P) and Clare Sabine (4G-5A-9P) if they hope to get on the board themselves. Either way, expectations are to see a disciplined Ryerson roster take the ice on Friday night and limit Western's red hot power play.  Only two other teams in the OUA have served fewer penalty minutes then Ryerson (195) this season and the Mustangs (231) are not one of them.

The game is set to start at 7:00 p.m. at Thompson Arena this Friday night.
 
Mustangs vs. Toronto – Saturday, February 1 at 4 PM  Watch Live on Mustangs TV

After beating Brock on Saturday to extend their winning streak to four games, the Toronto Varsity Blues fell to the top-seeded Guelph Gryphons by a score of 3-1 in their home building last Sunday.  The loss is only their second in their last ten games as they fall back to fourth place in the OUA with a record of 15-5-1 and with 31 points on the season, the Blues are only three points out of first place and will be looking to claim crucial points with another victory over Western this weekend to move up the standings.  The team will be looking to build off of its previous success as they triumphed over the Mustangs from a tight 2-1 game earlier this season in Toronto.

The Varsity Blues owe much of their success this season to both their stellar defensive play and their ability to perform on the road.  Toronto enters Saturday's contest having only dropped two road games so far this season, while their 33 goals against is good for second fewest in the OUA.  Their goaltender, Nicole Kesteris, is mainly responsible for that number as she has been quietly putting together a fantastic season, racking up a .945 save percentage while maintaining a stingy 1.37 goals against average.  While Western has also enjoyed hot goaltending as of late with both Campbell and Ross collecting shutouts in January, the Blues will look to forwards Kelly O'Hanlon (3G-17A-20P) and Taylor Day (10G-7A-17P) to light the lamp.

The game takes place this Friday evening at Thompson Arena with the puck set to drop at 7:00 p.m.

Mustangs vs. Windsor – Sunday, February 2 at 4 PM

The Windsor Lancers were set to roll into London last Saturday with four consecutive wins under their belt before the game's cancelation.  Things might be different now, however, that the game has been rescheduled to Sunday afternoon.

Not only is their record identical to Western's but their 2014 schedule has been as well.  The two teams have both played Nipissing, Laurentian, York and UOIT this January, but the Lancers found a way to win all four contests.  The trend will continue this weekend as both teams are set to compete against both Toronto and Ryerson before colliding at Thompson Arena on Sunday.

Windsor will be looking to avenge the 5-0 beating they received from the Mustangs in their home arena earlier this season, but more importantly, with chances to move up the standings quickly running out, the Lancers will be hoping to leapfrog over Western in the standings.

Windsor has relied heavily on their high-powered offence to get the job done this season as they lead all teams in the OUA with 69 goals scored despite having only played 19 games.  They will look to forward Jenny MacKnight who leads all OUA players in scoring so far this season with 11 goals and 33 points. Should MacKnight be contained by the Mustangs, the Lancers boast two other top five OUA goal scorers that they can turn to in Erin Noseworthy (14G-6A-20P) and Bree Polci (11G-15A-26P).

The Windsor squad will be hoping that the success of their offence will become contagious and lead to solid play at the other end of the rink where they have not been quite as effective.  Of all of the teams currently in a playoff position the Lancers have allowed the most goals against this season at 58, which is almost a full goal per game more than the Mustangs.  In net they will likely turn to Marissa Kozovski who has posted a .888 save percentage through 14 games in comparison to Campbell's .938 save percentage at the other end of the ice.  The game should be vigorous and hard-fought as these two teams battle it out on the ice and in the standings.

The puck is set to drop at 4:00 p.m. at Thompson Arena on Sunday afternoon.