LONDON, Ont. - The Western Mustangs women's hockey team claimed a 3-0 shutout win over the UOIT Ridgebacks on Saturday night at Thompson Arena out the regular season with a 20-1-3 record.
 
"20 games is the most games we've won in Mustang history," said Mustangs head coach Chris Higgins. "We only lost one game in regulation and we're pretty pleased," 

With Saturday's win, the Mustangs have recorded their best season in program history. Having reigned over the OUA standings all season long, the purple and white now wrap up their regular season with an impressive 20-1-3 record. The loss for the Ridgebacks gives the team a 7-15-2 record on the season, leaving them just three spots shy of a playoff position.
 
The contest opened with a scoreless period that saw the Mustangs outshoot the Ridgebacks 11-4. If you didn't know any better you might have thought that the Mustangs came back onto the ice in the second frame on a power play as the purple and white seemed to effortlessly cycle the puck around deep in Ridgeback territory for a solid five minutes. With Western controlling the play, Mustangs head coach Chris Higgins decided to take Kelly Campbell out of the net and send in back-up goalie Katie Jacobs to get some ice time.
 
The Mustangs strong offence paid off when Casey Rosen put the puck past UOIT goaltender Tori Campbell midway through the frame to give the Mustangs the 2-1 advantage.
 
Despite fighting hard to cut the Mustangs advantage, the Ridgebacks were unable to find an opening in Jacobs' net. With less than a minute and a half left in the period, Western's Ally Galloway notched the second goal of the game on a power play to put the purple and white up 2-0 as the game headed into the second intermission.
 
The third period saw the intensity heat up between the two teams, and despite bringing a little more physicality and aggression to the game the Ridgebacks were unable to put themselves onto the scoresheet as Jacobs held the goal line firm for the Mustangs.
 
With Jacobs holding strong between the pipes, the Mustangs offence continued to put heavy offensive pressure on Campbell deep in Ridgeback territory. With only five minutes remaining, Kendra Broad collected the third goal of the game and her 15^th of the season to give the Mustangs the 3-0 advantage.
 
With only a matter of minutes left on the clock the Ridgeback were unable to respond to the Mustangs three-point lead, and the Mustangs walked away with the 3-0 shutout victory to end their regular season.
 
"We're going to celebrate tonight, practice Monday and Tuesday, get on a bus Wednesday and bring back two points," said Higgins on the team's upcoming schedule heading into the playoffs.
 
The Mustangs begin their playoff run on Wednesday, February 18 when they face off against the Nipissing Lakers.