LONDON, Ont. — It was a big afternoon for a couple of Western's rookies on Saturday, as Trent Ouellette ended the Mustangs' 142-minute goalless streak late in the first period and Trevor Warnaar added the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over Waterloo at Thompson Arena.
 
Ouellette also added an assist on Warnaar's second period tally, which saw the Brampton native lift the puck past Waterloo's Mike Morrison on a three-on-two. When asked where the goal ranks in terms of the three he's scored this season, Warnaar laughed before noting it was up there.
 
"Yeah this one's pretty big— helping out the team, getting the [win]," he said. "We've come off a couple losses and [the Warriors] are nipping at our heels so to get that win that was big for us and I was glad to be a part of that."
 
The win snaps a two-game losing streak for Western and gives them some breathing room in the race against Waterloo for second place in the OUA West Division. The Warriors entered the afternoon just one point behind the Mustangs but leave behind by three, ending a three-game winning streak of their own in the process as their record falls to 16-7-2.
 
Heading into the match, Western had been plagued by some bad luck, finding themselves unable to score in their last two games despite good efforts against York and Windsor. Much to the delight of the purple and white faithful on hand for Saturday's game, the Mustangs had a number of chances to break that streak in the first period— highlighted by a full-ice bouncer from Greg Dodds that almost fooled Morrison— but looked like they'd finish without a goal for the seventh straight period.
 
Enter Ouellete, who stole the puck from Waterloo's Ryan Hanes and beat Morrison with just under 30 seconds left in the opening frame. Post-game, both Warnaar and head coach Clarke Singer noted that the team was able to let out a collective sigh of relief after the goal.
 
"I think we just had a little string of bad puck luck," said Warnaar. "We know that we can score goals; we've done it all year so it was just a matter of getting that first one. [We're] going into the home stretch here [with] three games left in the season before we hit the playoffs so it's definitely good to be hitting our stride right now."
 
"When Trent put that goal in in the first period it was a bit of a sigh of relief for everybody," Singer acknowledged. "You just never know— you're working hard and doing lots of good things and just the hockey gods aren't with yah. I think that made us relax a little bit. I think you can see after that goal went in we were a little bit of a different type of team the rest of the way."
 
Both teams came out with physical play early in the game and were hitting their marks more often than not, making for an action-packed first period that kept the fans on the edge of their seats. Western has already proven this year that they can play a physical brand of hockey and do it well, but the last couple of games have definitely seen the team step it up.
 
"It's playoff hockey and we've been talking about it all year, obviously," Singer said post-game. "I think when you play rivals like Windsor and Waterloo that kind of brings some more physicality to the game. You know tough game for Waterloo. I mean they travelled yesterday, played a seven o'clock game, travelled here, played a four o'clock game so they had a couple games in less than 24 hours and we wanted to try and take advantage of that."
 
Waterloo did seem to show their fatigue as the game drew on, following up a strong first-period by giving up two goals to the Mustangs in the second. Stephen Gaskin was the first one to get on the board in the frame, firing a slap shot off a Waterloo stick on a delayed penalty call just over six minutes in. Warnaar would follow that up with his third of the year 10 minutes later.
 
Dodds was perfect through the first two frames, stopping all 20 shots and exhibiting the confidence and patience that has helped him experience a resurgence in his last three games. Although Waterloo would beat him twice in the third period, first on a goal from Colin Behenna at the midway mark and second in the final minute on a tally from Justin Larson, he still put up strong stats on the night with 28 saves on 30 shots. His save percentage is now at .920.
 
The Mustangs now enter the final week of their regular season— a week that will see them close out the year against Guelph on Friday and Laurier on Saturday. It may not be the playoffs just yet but don't expect Western to bring anything but their playoff game, as the team looks to guarantee themselves second-place in the OUA standings with a pair of wins.
 
"We've got a week to get ready for the playoffs— we've only got two games left so you want to be playing your best when mid-February hits," Singer said. "You know we're not there yet but I'm proud of the guys [and] I thought they did a great job."
 
Notes: Western, previously the owner of the league's best power play success rate, has gone cold over their last number of games, failing to score on 10 chances through their last three games. In fact, since going 100% against RMC on January 9, Western has found themselves unable to score with the man advantage in five of their last seven games… With three solid performances in his last three starts, Dodds has moved himself back into the OUA's top five in save percentage and goals against average (2.37)… Steve Reese added another assist on Saturday evening and now sits tied for fourth in the OUA in that category with 22 and seventh in points with 30.