WATERLOO, Ont. - On Sunday afternoon, Western men's soccer goalie Ben Cowman earned himself a shutout game against the Laurier Golden Hawks, ending in a 0-0 draw at University Stadium. The 0-0 result is the same score that the two teams played to earlier this season, back on September 12 at Mustangs Field.
 
The tie is Western's third of the season, and it keeps the team in sixth place in the OUA West division with a 3-6-3 record. Laurier sits one spot above Western in fifth place with a 4-3-4 record.
 
Cowman's shutout was a nice way to start the Mustang's stretch of five away games. Coincidentally, Cowman's last shutout was also against the Golden Hawks this past September.
 
With Western and Laurier sitting closely on the OUA West rankings, Sunday's game was expected to be tight. The first 45 minutes saw the Mustangs spending good time in the Laurier end. The purple and white tallied six shots compared to Laurier's three attempts.
 
Heading into the second half with zero goals each, both Mustangs and Golden Hawks turned up the intensity. Two minutes into the second half Western's Mark Serjeant received a yellow card, and two minutes later Parker Seymour was handed another. Additionally, Laurier players, Niklas Bauer and Tahrik Rodriques were presented the same.
 
The Mustangs kept working and kept shooting in attempts to get the first goal of the game, but only four of their 11 shots hit the net, and all four were stopped by Golden Hawk goalie Stephan Brudiu. Their defensive game was strong, allowing only one shot on Cowman, but it wasn't enough to earn a win.
 
Western will be back in Waterloo on Friday, October 9 to face the Waterloo Warriors. Game number two of their five game road trip begins at 4:14 p.m.