ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – A three-goal second half helped cement a 2-1 halftime lead as the Western Mustangs women's soccer team defeated the Brock Badgers 5-1 on Saturday afternoon.
 
Five different Mustangs found the back of the net in the team's season opener, with Angelica Mihalopulos, Paige Howard, Sonja Cvetcovic, Grace Grafham, and Stefanie Di Tella providing the offence for the purple and white.
 
Despite claiming a four-goal victory, it was actually the host Badgers who were first on the board as Brooke Boekestyn opened the scoring 16 minutes into the first half.
 
The Mustangs wouldn't take long to respond with fourth-year defender Sabrina De Nard sending a pass to Mihalopulos to quickly tie the game 1-1.
 
Western continued to generate office through the remainder of the half, with Paige Howard scoring on a header off of a corner kick to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead at halftime.  
 
Returing to the pitch for the final 45 minutes, the Mustangs faced a new opponent in the Badgers net as Lauren MacCulloch stepped in for starter Larisssa Aiken for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately for the new keeper the Mustangs offence didn't let up, adding another three goals in the half.
 
Sonja Cvetcovic made it 3-1 for Western in the 65th minute, while midfielder Grace Grafham extended the Mustangs lead to three goals with a shot from 22 yards at the 81 minute mark.
 

Stefanie Di Tella rounded out the scoring just over eight minutes later, burying a penalty shot to give the Mustangs a 5-1 win.

Western now has a few days off until their home opener against the Guelph Gryphons on Wednesday evening at Mustangs Field. Game time is set for 8:15 p.m.