Last minute heroics in both of their games last week made sure that the Mustangs would walk away with all four possible points in clashes against York and Toronto. But Western won't have any time to catch their breath this week, as the action starts on Wednesday against Brock before picking up just two days later with a Friday night matchup against the pesky Lions.
 
Even with their two wins, Western slipped out of the CIS' top ten list this week, although they did maintain their second place standing in the OUA West Division. With 33 points compared to Windsor's 35, the Mustangs are just two points out of first place in the OUA.
 
Cody Brown is quickly turning himself into a household name for Western fans. The rookie forward followed up his two point OUA debut last week with two goals in two games over the weekend, including the overtime winner against York on Friday. His overall performance over the weekend was enough to earn him the honour of OUA Male Athlete of the Week on Monday.
 
Still, as nice as it was to see Brown get rewarded with an overtime goal on Friday, the Mustangs probably wish he never had the opportunity to do so at all. After all, Western entered the final two minutes of the game up 2-0, riding an excellent performance in net from Marc Nother, only to see York score two quick tallies with their net empty and force extra-time. With their 23 shots in the third period, the Lions ended up with 43 shots compared to Western's 42.
 
On the one hand, especially with the playoffs approaching quickly, the Mustangs certainly don't want to be seeing signs of third period defensive breakdowns. But, on the other, the fact that Western was able to rebound from the quick turnaround in a game that, for a long time, seemed like it was going to go down as a defensive gem is extremely promising, and demonstrated something close observers have long known to be true: that this year's team is a resilient one.
 
Colin MacDonald provided the late-game heroics on Saturday, sending Western past Toronto in a back-and-forth affair with the first goal of his OUA career. With an assist on Julian Cimadamore's opening goal, Noah Schwartz extended his point-streak to six games, and he now has three goals and seven points since returning to the lineup on December 2.
 
Steve Reese also got on the scoresheet after being held off on Friday night, grabbing a goal and an assist to bring his team-leading point total to 27— good enough for ninth in the OUA. Greg Dodds was back between the pipes, making 20 saves to earn his 12th victory of the year. Only one other goalie— Windsor's Parker Van Buskirk (13)— has earned more.
 
Wednesday, January 21 at Brock — 7:15 p.m. — Watch Live on OUA.tv
 
Brock and Western have already met once this season, when the Mustangs handed the Badgers, who sit fifth in the OUA West Division, a 3-0 defeat at Thompson Arena on October 11. This time the roles will be flipped, as Western heads to St. Catharines to play in enemy territory.
 
How much will home ice advantage mean? Nobody can say for sure but, at least statistically speaking, the Badgers have performed better in their own arena this year. Not only have they won more games, but like most teams in the OUA they've also been able to put up better numbers on offence, defence, and with their special teams.
 
The part about special teams is important, because when you combine their home and road percentages the Badgers sit 18th in the league on the power play and 17th on the penalty kill. So they'll look to use their home boost as they take on one of the best teams in the league in both categories, looking to reverse their fortunes after four losses in their last five games.
 
Their goaltending hasn't been phenomenal at home, but it's been better than on the road. Adrian Volpe and Clint Windsor have shouldered the majority of the responsibility, starting 19 of the Badgers' 21 games between the two of them. Windsor, a freshman, has the edge in save percentage at .892 and has also compiled the most wins with six. He's started 10 of Brock's last eleven games and made appearances in 12 of their last 13.
 
Up front, the Badgers are led in points by Andrew Radjenovic and Sammy Banga, who have 25 points and 20, respectively. They don't get a lot of offence from their defence, sporting just one blueliner— Dan Tenel — with more than five points on the season compared to Western's five.
 
Wednesday, January 23 at York — 7:00 p.m. — Watch Live on OUA.tv
 
If Western had their pick of teams to play this week, it probably wouldn't be the scrappy, hard-to-pin-down Lions— a team that was in London to face the Mustangs just last Friday. Despite beating the odds and stealing a point from Western the night before, York was unable to pull out a victory in their game on Saturday, falling 4-3 at home against Guelph.
 
This week, they'll welcome Western to Canlan Ice Sports, looking to finish what they started last week and take all two points available in the game. As opposed to last Friday, when they faced off against a Western team that was coming in fresh off of their week-long break, this Friday's game will see the Lions take on the Mustangs that's already played once in the week.
 
Although it was mentioned in last week's preview, it deserves to be emphasized again: the Lions are a team that doesn't score a whole lot. But for a team that, by all accounts, has been a little snake-bitten, averaging the second-least goals-per-game in the OUA at 2.76 while firing the second-most shots-per-game at 29.9, the Lions are good at finding ways to win.
 
Currently on a two-game losing streak, York still sits sixth in the OUA West Division— one spot behind Brock. They're led in points by Michael Santini, who added an assist on Saturday to go with his game-tying goal on Friday and is now on an 10-game point-streak— the top streak going in the OUA right now.