Day Three Recap

LONDON, Ont. – Stellar defence and a second half goal from Tamara Evans helped lead the Western Mustangs capture the bronze medal at the OUA Field Hockey Championships, with a 1-0 win over Waterloo on Sunday afternoon at TD Stadium.
 
"If you had asked anybody on our squad a few weeks ago that we'd be playing for bronze on our home turf they'd be elated. So, for us to come out here at home and capture that bronze it tastes extra good," said Mustangs head coach Jeff Pacheco.
 
The Mustangs, who ended the regular season as the OUA's third-ranked defence, relied on their strong defensive play once again on Sunday, keeping the Warriors from capitalizing on any of their scoring chances. Marielle Fernback got the win in net, making a number of timely saves to earn the shutout.
 
"All season our whole defensive core has been so solid," said Emily Cozens. "That's not just the defence themselves, that's the midfields tracking back, that's the forwards working hard to get behind the ball, all around I think our defensive game is the best in the league and I think that really showed in today's game."
 
Evans, the hero of Friday's shootout win over York, once again provided the game winner, scoring the game's lone goal in the 58th minute. Evans scored from in close, beating OUA Goalie of the Year Hilary Neeb to secure the win for Western.
 
Following the game coach Pacheco was quick to praise the win as a total team effort.
 
"The thing about us as a group, we play as 11, we win as 11," said Pacheco. "A lot of the seniors did step up, knowing it was kind of their last opportunity to showcase their skillset. [I'm] extremely proud of the senior group that we have here, and it was great for the juniors to see what it takes to compete at this level. Very proud of the program altogether."
 
The bronze medal win was especially meaningful for the team's graduating players, with Lindsay Borrell summing it up best.
 
"I couldn't have asked for a better way to go out," said Borrell. "I love [my teammates] very much, and I'm so thankful to all the coaches and all the fans who have put in so much time and dedication for us."

Day Two Recap

LONDON, Ont. - The Western Mustangs will play for bronze at the OUA Field Hockey Championship, after a hard-fought 1-0 loss to the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday afternoon at TD Stadium. 

The Gryphons earned the majority of the scoring chances in the game, with Mustangs goalkeeper Marielle Fernback turning most of them aside in a fantastic performance. Neither team broke though in the first half, and the scoreboard remained set at 0-0 until the game's 59th minute.
 
OUA MVP Olivia Lane provided the heroics for the Gryphons in the second half, recording her third goal of the championship to give Guelph the 1-0 victory.

Western will now turn their attention to Sunday's bronze medal game, where they'll take on the Waterloo Warriors, a team that the Mustangs have earned two 1-1 ties against this season. The Warriors fell to Toronto in Saturday's other semi-final contest, with the Varsity Blues taking a 5-1 win.

Other games on Saturday featured the Queen's Gaels defeating McMaster 2-1 via penalty shootout, while York topped McGill by a 3-0 score. Sunday will see the Martlets and Marauders competing at 9 a.m., followed by Queen's and York battling for fifth place at 11 a.m. The day wraps up with Toronto taking on Guelph for the OUA title at 3 p.m., in a matchup that will be available live on OUA.tv

Game time for the bronze medal showdown between Western and Waterloo is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday at TD Stadium. Fans can also catch all the action live on OUA.tv



Day One Recap

LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs are headed to the semi-finals at the OUA Field Hockey Championship after a 1-0 win over the York Lions on Friday at TD Stadium.
  
Tamara Evans played the hero for the sixth-seeded Mustangs in their upset over the No. 3 Lions, scoring twice in the penalty shootout to secure the win for Western.
 
After neither side was able to solve the other, the game came down to penalties with Evans scoring on the Mustangs first attempt. Rebecca Titus fired back for York on the Lions third shot, however Evans put the game away with a goal on the Mustangs sixth attempt to take the shootout 2-1 and earn a 1-0 match victory.
 
Veteran goalkeeper Marielle Fernback picked up the win for the Mustangs.

Along with the Mustangs, three other teams have secured their spot in the semi-finals at the OUA Field Hockey Championship, with Toronto, Waterloo, and Guelph all advancing after the first day of competition at TD Stadium.
 
The top-seeded Toronto Varsity Blues started off the day with a 4-0 win over the McMaster Marauders to secure their spot in the next round, while the No. 2 Guelph Gryphons wrapped up the day's events with a dominant 10-0 win over the McGill Martlets. Waterloo earned their spot in the semis with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Queen's.
 
The semi-finals will get started at 1 p.m. on Saturday, with Toronto taking on Waterloo, followed by Western squaring off with Guelph at 3 p.m.
 
Prior to the semi-finals getting underway, McMaster and Queen's will compete in the day's first game at 9 a.m., with York and McGill hitting the field at 11 a.m.