KINGSTON, Ont. – Western's field hockey team travelled to Queen's University last weekend for games against Waterloo and York, tying the Warriors in a tough, 70-minute battle on Saturday morning before falling to the Lions by a score of 2-1 in the afternoon.
 
Western's first game of the weekend against the Warriors began with the momentum in their favour. Goalkeeper Bethan Blackburn shut out the Warriors in the first half and made a number of game-saving stops while the Mustangs defense connected well with great ball movement and effective communication. Regardless of multiple opportunities for both sides, the first half ended scoreless.
 
The Mustangs were able to regroup at halftime, coming out hungry to get on the scoreboard. Veteran Katelynn Roganowicz was able to do just that, gaining possession of the ball in the Warriors circle and slipping it past Hillary Neeb's left pad into the back of the net giving Western a 1-0 lead.
 
With just less than ten minutes left, Waterloo was able to tie up the score. Midfielder Stephanie Snyder stick handled the ball past the Western defense and pushed it passed the goalkeeper legs and into the net. The purple and white kept fighting trying to regain their lead but the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
 
In their second game of the day, the Mustangs faced York for their first meeting of the season. The Lions put a lot of pressure on Western right off the bat, capitalizing on a turnover to give themselves an early lead. Halfway through the second, York's Megan Connolly scored again for the Lions to increase their lead to two.
 
With ten minutes remaining in the game, veteran Megan Duffy put the Mustangs back into the game as she produced a powerful shot off a short corner with assists from Alyssa Vink and Roganowicz. Although Western fought to find another goal in the final minutes, they could not find the back of the net and had to settle for a 2-1 loss.  
 
The purple and white's next game is at 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 24, 2014 at Guelph University. Then, the team comes home for the first time to host Queen's, McGill and Waterloo. Queen's is on tap for 9 a.m. Saturday, McGill at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, and finally Waterloo at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday. All games are at TD Stadium.