SUDBURY, Ont. — David Corrente registered two points and Kyle De Coste scored the game-winning goal 6:02 into the third period to help the Mustangs come back from an early 2-0 deficit and down the Laurentian Voyageurs 3-2 on Friday evening at Countryside Arena.

Laurentian took the early lead just over a minute into the first period with rookie forward Nick Espoto slipping his seventh of the season past Josh Unice. Fellow rookie Marc-Alain Begin tallied his sixth of the season exactly five minutes later.

Corrente would respond for Western just under a minute later, scoring his first of the season 7:30 into the period to cut the Voyageurs' lead in half. Seven turned out to be his lucky number on the night as the sophomore defenseman set up a goal by Matt Herskovitz 7:15 into the second for his second point of the night.

The two teams ended the frame squared at two but the tie wouldn't last long into the third, with De Coste putting the Mustangs on top with his fifth of the season six minutes in. The power-play goal came with the help of two of Western's top scorers as both Matt Clarke and Daniel Erlich assisted on the goal.  

In net, Unice picked up where he left off before the winter break, stopping 27 of 29 shots to frustrate the Laurentian shooters and help the Mustangs pick up their third win in as many games.

Those six crucial points have launched the Mustangs into a tie for second place in the West Division with Windsor, who will be looking to pull ahead once again when they take on Ryerson Saturday night at home. Western, on the other hand, will have to wait until January 10 to have a chance to get two points.

That game will take place at Thompson Arena and will see the Mustangs take on the Laurier Golden Hawks who currently sit last in the division with a record of 5-7-1. On Saturday, the Mustangs will have another chance to grab two points when they welcome Lakehead at 7:00 p.m. Puck drop on Friday is also set for 7:00 p.m.

Notes

Friday's game was Western's first in the last 13 years against Laurentian — as is the case with most teams in the OUA — since the Voyageurs returned this season after a 13-year hiatus. Laurentian sat eighth in the OUA's East conference with a record of 4-11-0 entering Friday's matchup.

Corrente wasn't the only Mustang to score his first goal of the season on Friday. Herskovitz's second-period goal was both his first goal and his first point of the season. The rookie defenseman and Montreal native has appeared in 12 of the Mustangs' 15 games so far this season. 

Heading into the game, two teams sat ahead of the third-place Mustangs in the OUA East with 22 points — Lakehead and Windsor — although the Thunderwolves ruined any chance of a three-way tie when they squeaked out a 2-1 win over Toronto on Friday. Lakehead also has a game in hand on both teams as they have only played 15 on the season.

The Mustangs went 1-4 on the power play Friday night after going 0-3 in their meeting with Windsor on December 16 and 11-50 since the beginning of November. In those 11 games the Mustangs have averaged 4.5 power-play opportunities per game while only managing to cash in 20% of the game or an average of once a game.

Erlich's assist on De Coste's third period goal keeps him in the OUA's point-scoring race with 26 points (7g, 19a). That total is good enough to put him in a three-way tie for second place in OUA scoring alongside Clarke, whose assist on the same goal Friday also gives him 26 points (12g, 14a) in 16 games. Clarke shot himself into the OUA's scoring lead with a two-goal, one-assist performance in Western's outdoor game against Windsor, in which he scored the game-winning goal in the opening frame.