MONTREAL – A five-goal outburst in the second period helped the Western Mustangs get their six-game road stretch off to a good start with an 8-4 win over Concordia on Friday night at the Ed Meagher Arena.
 
After falling behind 4-1 in the opening 20 minutes, four Mustangs found the back of the net in the middle frame, with Julian Cimadamore, Jed Rusk, Matt Herskovitz all scoring a goal each, while Adam Mckee beat Concordia netminder Robin Billingham twice in the period.
 
Goaltender Marc Nother picked up the win for the Mustangs on Friday night, entering the game in relief of Greg Dodds just over ten minutes into the first period and helped earn the 'W' with 23 saves on the evening.
 
Nother's win was his second in as many appearances, as he now has two wins both on the season and in his CIS career. The third-year backstop earned his first win last week against the Nipissing Lakers, turning aside 32 shots to help keep Western undefeated at home. At the other end of the ice Billingham was also stellar, turning aside 39 shots in the loss.
 
Dodds got the start for the Mustangs but was roughed up early, giving up three goals on eleven shots within the first eleven minutes of play. He wasn't given much support and Nother wouldn't be treated much better early either, as Concordia rung off seven more shots before the end of the period and managed their fourth and final goal before the intermission. Alex Micallef had Western's only reply in the period, scoring just over eight minutes in.
 
After that, however, it was all Western. Mckee was a big reason for that, as he would follow up a first period assist on Micallef's goal with three more points before the end of the night. Two of those points came consecutively in the second period, as he followed up goals by Cimadamore, Rusk, and Herskovitz with two of his own.
 
Following that big second period, the Mustangs headed into the third frame up 5-3. With momentum still solidly on the Mustangs' side, Western would add some insurance markers late in the game. Mckee helped Luke Karaim put Western up 6-3 just under nine minutes into frame before Rusk scored his second of the game with 24 seconds left on the clock.
 
After taking season-high amounts of penalties two games in a row last week, the Mustangs committed just two infractions on Friday night. Concordia, on the other hand, took six penalties in total, with Western capitalizing just once on Karaim's third period goal.
 
Along with McKee and Rusk, three other players turned in multi-point performances on Friday. Steve Reese assisted on three goals, Karaim complimented his insurance goal with an assist on Cimadamore's goal, and Herskovitz made the most of his opportunity on Friday by turning in a goal and an assist.
 
Western won't have much of a chance to rest despite the busy night, as they'll be right back in action tomorrow afternoon with a game against UQTR. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
 
Notes
 
Rusk's two goals were his first of the season. The sophomore defenceman has been used sparingly this season but has been strong when called upon, and proved that on offence Friday… Friday's game marked the first time that Dodds has been pulled in his OUA career.