WATERLOO, Ont. – When the Western Gazette asked Greg Dodds if he had a New Year's resolution last week, his response was simple: "Eat less pizza and let in less goals."

The backstop got started on at least one of those promises on Saturday night, turning aside 46 of 47 shots to lead the Mustangs to a 2-1 victory over Laurier at Sun Life Arena.

Still no word on the pizza part, although he certainly earned a slice against the Golden Hawks.

Cody Brown and Sean Callaghan had Western's goals, both of which came in a dominant first period. Brown's goal was his second in two nights since returning from injury while Callaghan's game-winner was the first of his OUA career. Christian Mroczkowski scored Laurier's only goal in the second.

For the second straight night, the Mustangs outshot their opponent in the first period—this time by a total of 19-12. But Laurier took control after that, firing 19 more shots than Western through the final two frames. Dodds was forced to make 19 saves in the third period alone while his counterpart, Colin Furlong, faced just six.

With the win, Western's junior goalkeeper pulls his save percentage up to .910 and his record to 7-4-0 after experiencing an uncharacteristically rocky second half of the 2015 fall semester. He kicked off the season with five straight wins but let in three goals or more through five of his final seven starts.

Helping Dodds pick up his first win of 2016 was a fresh face in Stephen Sanza, who registered his first point with the Mustangs after being added to the roster in January. The former St. Thomas Tommie assisted on Brown's first period goal one night after making his debut at home against Brock.

Also picking up an assist was Shaun Furlong, who was shut out against the Badgers on Friday. The veteran winger now has eight assists and 14 points through 17 games this season.
 
Western went one-for-three on the power play after being shut out on Friday. Laurier was unable to cash in on any of their four opportunities, three of which came consecutively in the second period. A checking-from-behind penalty to Nick Tetley didn't help Laurier's cause in the third period, as they were forced to go without the sophomore defenseman for 10 minutes early in the frame.

The purple and white remain on the road next week to face off against Guelph on Thursday and York on Saturday. Western won't return to Thompson Arena until January 21, when they take on Toronto.

NOTES
Captain David Corrente also picked up an assist on Saturday to give him eight this season. That's a career high for the veteran, whose next best total was six in 2014-15. He needs just one more point to match his top point total of 11, also set in 2014-15...