LONDON, Ont. – Fighting against the OUA's top team and near freezing temperatures, the Mustangs proved that nothing would slow them down, defeating the Guelph Gryphons 12-10 on Saturday night at Alumni Field.
 
With the win the Mustangs improve to 5-1 on the year, while the Gryphons suffered their first loss of the year to move to 6-1.
 
"I would have liked to see a little more scoring, but it's a win. I'll take it," said Mustangs head coach David Knowles. "It was the battle I thought it was going to be, and we were on the right side this time."
 
Mark Denton continued to prove that he's indispensable by topping the score sheet once again with one try and one convert. Glen Bullock - with a try of his own - was the only other Mustang to post points.
 
Bullock's points were arguably what set the Mustang machine in motion, with the play concentrated in the purple and white end prior to his try. Dodging through multiple red and yellow defenders, he broke through the Gryphon line just seven minutes in to give Western an early lead.
 
Denton followed up with a kick straight through the uprights to register the convert.
 
Guelph retaliated less than five minutes later with a try of their own, but were unable to make the kick.
 
As snow began to come down, both teams increased the intensity. Guelph and Western both managed strong runs, threatening to put another several points on the board.
 
It wasn't until Bullock cleared a lane for point leader Denton's try that Western was able to further extend their lead.
 
Refusing to go down without a fight, Guelph managed to sneak in their second try of the night near the thirty-minute mark to bring the score to 12-10. The red and gold try was the last points scored of the night.
 
Returning to the field for the final forty, the desire for a win from both teams was palpable. While the score didn't move, there was plenty of action on the field.
 
"Their scrums and their mauls were really pushing us early on, but I think we adjusted," said Bullock about their win. "We knew we needed to buckle down. They have some very big forwards, but our forwards played great and came back really hard. We kept that aggression up throughout the whole second half."
 
Guelph and Western both picked up penalties resulting in kicks – though none were successful – while the play continually switched from being concentrated deep in the purple and white half to equally as deep in the red and gold.
 
However, Guelph almost had a leg up on the Mustangs when they believed to have scored a try that would put them in the lead, but the points were nullified by the officials.
 
At the final whistle, the score remained the same as it had been at the 28-minute mark, with Western defeated last year's OUA silver medalists and 2015's top ranked team 12-10.
 
The Mustangs are back in action and will be looking to pick up another win on October 24, when they head to St. Catharines to take on the Brock Badgers in their penultimate matchup of the regular season.