LONDON, Ont. - The only team to beat the reigning CIS and OUA champions in regulation last season came to Thompson Arena on Thursday night and left with a valuable lesson: despite retaining much of their talented core, the Western Mustangs are not the same team.

Thanks to a strong summer of recruiting, in many ways they're better.

Rookie April Clark had a game-high three assists and two other players from the incoming class added points, as Kelly Campbell posted her second straight win to help lead the Mustangs to a 7-1 home victory over the Windsor Lancers.

"All the girls played good and it was just a good outcome," said Clark post-game. "It's unbelievable to even be a part of the team, stepping out on the ice is just awesome with all these wonderful girls."

For a team that relies on their sound defensive play and doesn't usually rack up the goals, Western's seven-goal outburst was a bonus on a night that saw them dominate a talented young Lancer team.

"Highly unusual for us," head coach David Barrett said of the score. "I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to get some of our players a little more confidence offensively. Sometimes you get some bounces and they go in but I think we used a lot of speed, we were first on the puck all night long, and we're driving the net so we took advantage of the opportunities that were presented to us. It's a great thing, we only scored one goal in the first two games so this was nice."

Clark registered two of those helpers in Western's three-goal opening frame, which saw the Mustangs' first year players get in on the action in a big way. Fellow newcomers Catherine O'Connor and Evra Levesque also got on the board in the first, kicking off what was a solid game for all of Western's rookies—not just the ones that made it on the score-sheet.

"So far I've been really pleased with our first-year players," said Barrett. "We had two young players today, Britt Loggie and Rachel Raffard, play their first game in the OUA. Both of them were solid and I was very pleased with the way they played never-mind April and Dana Bryce and some of the other younger players."

Campbell was solid for the second straight game after giving up an uncharacteristic total of three goals in Western's opener. She only had to make seven saves through the first two periods and her veteran core did the rest, picking up the baton from Western's rookies in the first intermission and running with it to help put together a three-goal second period.

Katelyn Gosling was in on two of those goals, as she assisted on an Emma Pearson marker before scoring one of her own. Gosling's goal came on a gorgeous pass from Clark, who threaded the needle with a slap-pass from the point to set-up the one-timer. It was the second power play goal for Western in the period, as the team's combined for eight penalties.

"I just kind of saw her on the spot," Clark said of her seeing-eye assist to Gosling. "She did a good job of getting out in the open and I just saw her."

Western had half of the second-period infractions, and would go on to add four more in the third for a total of eight. But Barrett wasn't concerned about the state of his team's discipline post-game.

"In my experience of coaching or playing when the game gets out of hand the referee tends to give a lot more power plays—it's a way to keep the intensity of the game a little lower," Barrett said. "I don't think we were really undisciplined, it's just some calls happen"

Campbell faced her toughest test of the game in the third period, when the Lancers managed a game-high 17 shots. Two consecutive penalties to O'Connor and Brittany Clapham early in the third allowed Windsor to get five straight shots but Campbell held strong and made a number of nice stops in close. The Lancers would get on the board on their second five-on-three of the period with 6:35 left.

But in the end Western's three first period goals would hold up to be more than enough. Clark, whose assists marked her first points of the season, helped set up the opening goal from fellow rookie Levesque, who completed an end-to-end effort with a five-hole snipe for her first point in purple and white. O'Connor's last-second goal was also her first point, and she added an assist in the second.

Windsor starter Marissa Kozovski didn't make it through the first period, as backup Hanna Slater took over after the second goal of the game. Slater didn' fair much better, allowing the late goal to O'Connor in the first and a trio in the second. Despite entering the game late, she had already faced 19 shots by the end of the second. She would see six more in the third, allowing a goal from Clapham.

Clapham finished the night with two points, as did Western' best offensive player from last season in Kendra Broad. Broad assisted on Scott's first period goal before adding another helper on  Pearson's marker in the second period.

Western heads into an OUA off-week, although they will be travelling south of the border for games against Cornell and Quinnipiac. When they return, they'll play a pair of games at home against Toronto teams, as Ryerson and the Varsity Blues will be at Thompson Arena on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Notes

Thursday's game marked Western's first seven-goal effort since they beat Windsor 7-5 on November 2, 2012. That game, which was also at Thompson Arena, saw two players currently on the roster register points. Clapham had an assist while Gosling, in a spooky coincidence, had a goal and two assists… In total, eleven Mustangs registered their first points of the season. The only two that had already gotten on the board this year were Broad and Lyndsay Kirkham.