LONDON, Ont. – Head coach David Knowles got his career and regular season off to a good start on Wednesday night as the Western Mustangs men's rugby team defeated the Toronto Varsity Blues 82-3 in their season opener at Alumni Field.
 
"There is a lot of talent here, a lot of good guys. I'm impressed with the potential we have here," said Knowles following his first win as Mustangs head coach.
 
The Mustangs got off to a fast start, opening the scoring just over a minute into the game off of a try from Kevin Catliff at 1:45 before Mark Denton followed up with the convert to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead. Denton added another try and convert only moments later to extend Western's lead before the Varsity Blues responded with a penalty goal at 8:43 to make it 14-3 for the purple and white.
 
Unfortunately for the Varsity Blues that would be their only points of the night as Western went on to record another 26 points in the first half, followed by 42 in the second to take the game by an 82-3 score.
 
Topping the Mustang scoreboard were Justin Chan and Mike Santangeli who each earned 15 points, followed closely by Peter Milazzo with 10 points.
 
With the first win of the season under their belts, Knowles has one main goal for his team as he looks towards the remainder of the season.
 
"I have an expectation to win gold," said coach Knowles, "they've been in the finals many years, five straight years and the last three were losses. My expectation is to keep improving what we've got and build on it."
 
Next up for the Mustangs is an exhibition contest against the Davenport Panthers this Saturday in Michigan before resuming their OUA regular season schedule against the Guelph Gryphons on Friday, September 12.