OSHAWA, Ont. — A third-period comeback fell just short for Western on Friday night, as UOIT scored the first four goals of the game on their way to a 4-2 victory at Campus Ice Centre.
 
With the loss, the Mustangs head into Saturday's game against Queen's on a two-game losing streak and a record of 3-2-0. In setting Western on their first losing-streak of the season, the Ridgebacks snapped their own two-game losing streak and now have a record of 3-2-1.
 
Western stacked the deck against themselves early on Friday night, giving up a goal in the first period and two in the second to dig themselves a three-goal hole heading into the third period. In his first start of the season, Marc Nother faced 22 shots through the first two frames, turning aside 19 of them before stopping five more UOIT chances in the third. 
 
The only shot he didn't stop in the third period came just under three minutes, as Kevin George beat the third-year net minder to give UOIT a seemingly insurmountable four-goal lead. But Western wasn't about to give in, shifting momentum in their direction by netting a pair of goals before the halfway point of the period.
 
Stefan Salituro potted the first of those markers, extending his point-streak to four games and ending UOIT goaltender Brendan O'Neill's shutout bid with the goal. O'Neill entered Friday's game on a two-game losing streak with a tough .897 save percentage, thanks in large part to a 9-4 loss to Carleton last week that saw him give up seven goals and be pulled midway through.
 
But the freshman goaltender was a huge factor on Friday, especially in a third period that saw him turn away 14 shots from the pressing Mustangs. Stephen Gaskin was the only other Western player to beat him on the night, as the defenceman followed up Salituro's marker with a goal of his own just two minutes later to bring the Mustangs as close as they would get on the night.
 
One of the big reasons for UOIT's success was their proficiency on the penalty kill, as the Ridgebacks killed off all three of their infractions to become the first team this season to shut out the Mustangs on the power play. With their perfect performance on Friday, UOIT's penalty kill remains the second-best in the OUA with a success rate of 90.3%.
 
Right behind them on the OUA's penalty killing leaderboard is Western, who also shut out UOIT on two opportunities after giving up their first two power play goals last Saturday against Waterloo. And, despite being shut out by the Ridgebacks, the Mustangs still remain on top of the OUA and hold onto third in the CIS with a power play percentage of 29.2
 
Western will be right back in action tomorrow night, as they head to Kingston to take on Queen's. The Gaels were also in action Friday night, recovering from a goal just 48 seconds in to come back and hand the Guelph Gryphons a 3-2 overtime loss.
 
Notes
Friday's game marked Nother's first OUA regular-season start of his career… Steve Reese registered a helper on Salituro's goal and Noah Schwartz earned the primary assist on Gaskin's marker, as both players extended their point-streaks to five games… On that note, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, it should be noted that the line of Schwartz, Julian Cimadamore, and Luke Karaim have now produced offence in every single game so far this season. While Cimadamore did have his four-game point streak snapped, Karaim joined Schwartz in assisting Gaskin's goal, meaning the line has now produced 15 points through just five games… That goal was Gaskin's first of the season and second point overall…