LONDON, Ont. – Picking up a big lead just minutes after the opening whistle, the Western Mustangs were nearly unstoppable as they took down the Laurier Golden Hawks 67-26 on Wednesday night at Alumni Field.
 
With the win, the Mustangs continue their campaign for a championship banner, while the Golden Hawks have been eliminated from the OUA playoffs.
 
Leading OUA scorer Mark Denton again topped the scoresheet, with one try, seven converts and a penalty goal for 22 points on the night. Just behind Denton was Cole Sopik, who's three tries added another 15 points to the Mustang effort.
 
Also recording multiple tries were Sam Bishop and Mike Turnbull who each found the in-goal area twice, while Mitchell Rothman and Glen Thomson-Bullock rounded out the scoring with one try each.
 
Leading the Golden Hawk effort was this week's OUA's Peak Performer Andrew Thompson, who recorded ten points.
 
"In the first half we came out firing," said Sopik. "For some reason in the second half, in the first twenty minutes we slowed down. Our defence, or our intensity, I don't know what it was. We know we have to fix that for Sunday. Overall we played well, scored a lot of points, but it would have been nice to see a zero for Laurier."
 
As noted by Sopik, the first half was dominated by the purple and white with long runs and impressive plays leading the Mustangs over an aggressive Golden Hawk contingent.
 
Denton's penalty goal just two minutes in opened up a flood of purple and white points, with 33 additional points scored in the first half alone. Standing out on the scoresheet was Sopik's first try of the night around 20 minutes in, and Denton's try two minutes later.
 
Evading the entire Golden Hawk contingent, Sopik ran unchallenged seven and a half meters to score his first of three tries and bring the score to 15-0.
 
Around two minutes later Denton managed to top his teammates' play, diving into the in-goal area to catch the ball mid-flight for another five points.
 
Continuing to run through Laurier's defence while keeping the purple and gold advance from breaching the 22-meter line, the Mustangs were rolling.
 
However, momentum shifted rapidly in the 38th minute of play when Western was up 36-0.
 
Finally breaking through a Mustang defence that had warded off tries all half, Thompson broke through to put up Laurier's first points of the game. With a convert from Nathan Roberts, the teams headed into the half with Western holding a 36-7 lead.
 
Returning to the field for the final forty minutes, Laurier was fired up. Playing as if they were a completely different team, they kept play pressed in the Mustang end, finding defensive holes before they could be filled.
 
The first points of the second half were put up by Jeff Wood five minutes in, and the Golden Hawks would take control of the next eleven minutes, adding another 14 points to the scoreboard to cut the Western lead to only 10 points.
 
"I think sometimes when you get up that much, it's a lack of focus," said Western head coach David Knowles. "They scored an early try in the second half, and rode the momentum and we were sitting back on our lead. It was a good wake up call for us, and I hope we learn for it."
 
Determined not to allow the game to get away from them, the Mustangs came storming back to close out the second half strong.
 
Arguably it was Mike Turnbull's try just three minutes after Laurier's final points of the night that pulled momentum back towards Western, allowing them to shut the door on their opponents and finish out the game in style.
 
Sopik and Turnbull added another try each, while Sam Bishop put up the final two tries of the game and the 74^th and 78 minute marks.
 
At the final whistle, Western was up 26-67 to take the game and progress to the OUA Semi-Finals against Queen's.
 
Heading into the match, Knowles expects a game similar to the October 3 matchup at Alumni Field that Queen's came out on top of, winning by a 14-9 score.
 
"It'll be a hard battle. They've got some big bodies and some quality players that match up well against us. Is was a five-point game a few weeks ago in their favour, and we had every opportunity to win that game. We just have to execute, and finish the game."
 
Back in action on Sunday, the Mustangs will take on the rival Queen's Gaels at Nixon Field in Kingston to determine who will compete for OUA Gold. Game time is set for 6 p.m.