LONDON, Ont. - A determined three-goal comeback was not enough for Western as they fell 4-3 to the Laurentian Voyageurs at Thompson Arena on Friday night.

The Mustangs gave up three goals in the first period and went down 4-0 before slowly climbing their way back into the game, ultimately falling short. Lindsay Kirkham, Megan Taylor and Kendra Broad all scored and Kelly Campbell made 32 saves in the losing effort.
 
"We talked after the game about what lessons we can take away from this," said head coach David Barrett. "As cliché as it is we didn't play a 60 minute game. This league is too competitive for us to take periods of time off and expect to win."
 
The loss snaps the Mustangs three game winning streak and drops them to 10-1-5-0 going into Saturday's matchup with the Nipissing Lakers, who are chasing the Mustangs in the standings.
 
Western came out of the gate slowly in an action-packed first period. They had trouble breaking out and transitioning through the neutral zone. That problem translated into extended stretches of Laurentian control in the offensive zone.
 
Just under five minutes into the period the Voyageurs capitalized on their pressure. Laurentian forward Taylor Weber controlled the puck behind the Western net and two Mustang defenders gravitated towards her, leaving Weber's line mate Julie Herbert alone in front. Weber backhanded a sharp pass to the uncovered Herbert and she shoveled it past Campbell to open the scoring.
 
A Mustang penalty several minutes later helped the Voyageurs take a two-goal lead on the power play. After Campbell made two really great saves in tight, the puck was cycled to the point and defensemen Ellery Veerman wristed a shot that found the top corner above Campbell's glove.
 
The Voyageurs tacked on another goal to end the first frame before adding a fourth to open the second period. The Mustangs found themselves down 4-0 with 13 minutes left in the second period.
 
"I think they outworked us " said Barrett. "Any [puck] that was loose that was fifty-fifty was theirs."
 
The first half of them game may have belonged to Laurentian, but the tide was turned around the midway point of the second frame.
 
Kirkham struck first for Western. A dogged fore-check by her and Taylor gave the Mustangs the puck below the Laurentian red line. After the puck was shoveled in front of the net, Kirkham got her stick on it before Voyageur goaltender Emily Toffoli could get her glove down and sent it into the net.
 
A beautiful play in transition gave the Mustangs their second goal of the game. Western forward Edie Levesque received a quick up pass from her sister #Evra# and quickly tapped it to a streaking Taylor in the neutral zone. Taylor gained the zone and found herself in front of three Laurentian defenders. Noticing her trailing teammate, she tapped a drop pass back to Edie who fired a snap shot on net.

Edie's first effort didn't find the net, but Toffoli would kick out a big rebound to a driving Taylor, who jumped on the puck and stashed it in the back of the net from the left slot. Speed, quick thinking and good instincts on the part of Taylor and Levesque made up one of the sharpest goals the Mustangs have seen all season, making the score 4-2 after two periods of play.
 
In the third, Laurentian settled into a defensive style of play and clamped down on the Mustangs shot opportunities, blocking many of Western's attempts on net.
 
However, after a turnover at their own blue line, the Voyageurs left Broad all alone in front of the net. She received a quick pass from Britanny Clapham, stickhandled to her forehand, and slid the puck into the empty net under the sprawling effort from Toffoli.
 
The Mustangs pulled their goalie in the dying moments but were unable to find the tying goal despite a flurry of shots.
 
"They were a lot hungrier at the beginning," said Barrett. "We got a little desperate as the game went along but not a lot of teams in this league have the ability to come back from a 4-0 deficit."
 
The Mustangs will have to re group quickly, as they host the third place Nipissing Lakers at Thompson Arena on Saturday night in the OUA Feature Game of the Week.
 
"We have a good rivalry with them," said Barrett about the marque matchup. " [Head coach] Darren Turcotte has done a good job with his team up there - they compete every night."