LONDON, Ont. – The team that entered this season with two of the most highly-touted goaltenders in the CIS finally got the game-stealing performance they were waiting for.
 
Unfortunately, Western just couldn't get away with robbery.
 
Peter Delmas made an incredible 50 saves and Alex Micallef tied the game late in the second period, but a goal from Ryan Doucette late in the third gave the UOIT Ridgebacks a 3-2 victory in front of a rowdy crowd at Thompson Arena Friday night.
 
"I always like getting more shots, it keeps you in the game" said Delmas. "I just felt really good tonight, just tried to stick with my game plan during the whole game and I did. We were pretty tired—we only had four d—so it was really hard to play last night and then tonight for those defence. I think our four d played awesome and they did a great job in front of [me]."
 
"He played his best game we've seen and that's the AHL Delmas we've seen and what we brought him here for," said Micallef of his backstop, a former pro in the Colorado and Montreal organizations. "If it wasn't for him… he did a great job and kept us in there."
 
Western has put up with injuries and small rosters all season, but Friday night was the first time that the team truly looked out of gas. It showed most in the second period, which saw the Ridgebacks outshoot the Mustangs 27-3. Western didn't even manage a shot until Connor Chartier was hauled down on a breakaway with 2:33 remaining in the frame.
 
Chartier didn't score on the ensuing penalty shot but Micallef would a minute later, jamming in a rebound past UOIT's Brendan O'Neill to tie the game at 2-2. The goal gave a huge boost to Western's crowd, who had just witnessed an entirely Ridgeback-dominated period.
 
"I think we definitely felt the effects [of the back-to-back] tonight," said Western head coach #Clarke Singer. "We've seen it earlier in the year when we've played back-to-back against a rested team but tonight UOIT definitely had more juice than us, a lot more energy. They had a lot more contact, they played harder than us, and I think they deserved the win."
 
There's no question that the Ridgebacks looked like the better team on Friday. Already a squad with tons of speed to spare, they consistently took advantage of tired plays by the Mustangs and created a number of odd-man rushes. Mark Petaccio led the way on offence, scoring UOIT's first two goals before registering an assist on Doucette's winner in the third.
 
Petaccio opened the scoring just over five minutes into the first period, but veteran Luke Karaim got Western on the board just over 30 seconds later. Western's leading scorer Matt Marantz earned a helper on the Mustangs opening goal and added another on Micallef's marker late in the second, helping his team head into the third with an improbable 2-2 tie.
 
When Western hit the ice on the third, they looked like a completely different team. It didn't hurt that they were handed their first power play of the game 21 seconds in, but regardless the Mustangs were able to control the play and appeared to be motivated with the end in sight.
 
"It was just great because we had a chance to win," Delmas said of his team's mood heading into the third. "We were right in it, win the period win the game type of thing, so we were positive and I thought we started off the period really well too so that's all you can do is try and give your team a chance to win."
 
Delmas' brilliant performance, which saw him turn aside the largest onslaught of shots that UOIT has thrown on a team in program history, helped to overshadow an impressive performance from UOIT's O'Neill, who had a couple of really nice scramble saves in a 14-save third period. He finished with 24 saves, stats that don't do his performance justice.
 
Both goaltenders were strong in the final frame, which saw them trade excellent butterfly saves on scramble plays, some of which saw at least three shots be fired their way. O'Neill absolutely robbed David Corrente at the end of a solid series of saves in the third, just minutes after Delmas made the save of the season with his toe during a busy penalty kill.
 
In the end, it would take one final scramble play for UOIT to pull out the win. The game-winning marker came at the end of a series of excellent saves by Delmas, who could do nothing but sit as Doucette found the only space available between the goalie and two defencemen.
 
Overall, Singer wasn't in bad spirits after the game despite having suffered two straight losses, stressing the quality of the opponents that Western had to face. He also couldn't say enough about the performance of his four-man defensive core through both games.
 
"Great job by those guys," said Singer of his defence. "To have two very, very close games two quality opponents the last couple nights with on four d back there. They did a great job."
 
As for his thoughts on Delmas' play, he saw nothing but positives.
 
"All year our goalies have played very, very well; even some games we've given up some big numbers we just had some mental mistakes," said Singer. "But certainly nice to see Peter have a game like that. He's been working hard in practice and nice to see him get back to the form I think he expects of himself."
 
NOTES: With his two assists on Friday, Marantz is now first in the OUA with 15 helpers… Not surprisingly, Friday was the first time that Western had allowed over 50 shots all season. Neither goaltender had made more than 40 saves in a game so far this year…