TORONTO –  April Clark scored the first two goals of her OUA career to help the Western Mustangs defeat the Ryerson Rams 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at the Mattamy Centre.
 
The win snaps the Mustangs season-high three game losing streak and improves the team's record to 11-1-7-0, potentially tying them for third place in the OUA depending on the outcome of tonight's Waterloo-Laurier matchup. The loss drops Ryerson's record to 2-0-15-1 on the year.
 
Clark's first two OUA goals come partway through a rookie season that's seen the St. Mary's, Ont., native suit up in each of Western's 19 regular season games. Her consistent play and effort had resulted in seven assists prior to today's game, and while it had not resulted in any goals before Saturday, that effort was rewarded in spades against Ryerson.
 
Kelly Campbell started in goal for the Mustangs stopping all 23 shots she faced. The Rams had difficulty getting past the Mustang defence and were forced to take most of their shots against Campbell from low scoring areas of the ice.  The shutout was Campbell's fourth of the year. 
 
Campbell's counterpart Sydney Authier was sharp throughout the game stopping 31 of 33 shots, including several desperation saves in the third period.
 
Clark's first goal came 17 minutes into the opening frame. After killing off a penalty, the Mustangs turned the tables on the Rams. Defencemen Katelyn Gosling jumped up in the Rams zone and engaged in a great forecheck that gave her possession of the puck. She fought off two Ryerson defenders and found Clark alone in front, where the forward flipped up the puck on the backhand and beat Authier over the glove hand side.
 
The Mustangs outshot the 13-5 in the first period and took a 1-0 lead into the break.
 
The second period was a back and forth affair that featured more balanced play. There were no goals in the second period, but the Mustangs still out shot the Rams 13-8.
 
Clark's second marker came halfway through the third period on the power play. Brianna Iazzolino made a nifty move on the half wall to create space for herself and she found Gosling at the point. Gosling fired a shot that missed the net but bounced of the end wall to Clark. With Authier out of position, Clark potted the puck into the empty net and increased the lead to 2-0.
 
From there the Mustangs shut down the game with strong defensive play, and were able to help preserve the shutout for Campbell and the win. The final shot total was 33-23 for the Mustangs.
 
The Mustangs return to action next week when they travel to Laurier on Saturday, February 6, before then hosting Brock at the Thompson Arena on Sunday afternoon.