LONDON Ont. – Fourth-year midfielder
Stefanie Di Tella recorded her sixth goal of the season and
Grace Grafham provided the game winner to help the Western Mustangs to a 2-1 victory over the McMaster Marauders on Friday evening on Mustangs Field.
"There were some positives, and some things we're going to look at and try to approve upon," said Mustangs head coach
Martin Painter. "We fought until the end, and credit to McMaster, they're a very good team, have lots of weapons going forward, and they had some great chances."
With the win, the Mustangs remain in second place in the OUA West Division with a 6-0-4 record, narrowly separating themselves from the Windsor Lancers 5-0-4 mark. The loss drops the Marauders to a 2-6-2 record, and they remain in seventh in the OUA West.
After a well fought 0-0 draw this past weekend against York, the Mustangs revitalized their scoring with an early goal from Di Tella, giving Western their initial lead.
Grafham provided the game winning goal to seal the win for Western early in the second half off of an assist from Amanda Boyle. Goalie Megan Brown added seven impressive saves to help ensure the victory for the purple and white.
Despite the Mustangs' offensive chances, the Marauders fought hard and kept things close throughout the entire match. After the early Di Tella goal, Marauders' forward Stephanie Roberts netted her first goal of the season to tie the game up at 1-1 just as the second half began. However, just three minutes later, the Grafham goal would seal the victory for the Mustangs.
"I consider McMaster to be one of the top teams in the division, and if we matchup against them [in the playoffs] it'll be a tough battle," said Painter. "They've got speed, they've got skill, they're tough, and they're a very good team."
Di Tella also had praise for the Marauder team, but still has confidence in her team in a possible future rematch, saying "I think McMaster is a very strong and physical team. We've had a lot of experience playing them, but I think if we match they're physicality we'll be okay."
The Mustangs will be back in action this Sunday, October 2 when they travel to St. Catharines to take on the Brock Badgers. The game is set to begin at 1 p.m.
