ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – The Western Mustangs earned an important three points in the OUA standings with a 4-2 victory over the Brock Badgers on Saturday afternoon at the Seymour-Hannah Sports and Entertainment Centre.

The victory, which snaps a three-game skid for the purple and white, puts them four points ahead of the Badgers for seventh place. Brock remains just outside of the playoff picture as the ninth ranked team in the OUA.

Four different Mustangs marked their names on the scoresheet on Saturday, with Amanda Pereira, Rachel Armstrong, Tia Kipfer, and Brianna Iazzolino providing the offence for the purple and white. Goaltender Shelby Ryan picked up the second win of her OUA career, turning aside 18 shots in the victory.

Western set a shooting pace in the first period that carried over for the remainder of the game as they held a 10-6 shot advantage over Brock in the opening frame. That edge in shots turned into a lead when Pereira beat Brock goaltender Jensen Murphy for her sixth goal of the season midway through the period.

Making her first appearance since playing against UOIT earlier in the season, Ryan kept the Badgers off the scoreboard in the period, including helping to kill off three penalties, one of which was a 5-on-3 opportunity, to secure the 1-0 lead heading into the intermission.

The lead didn't last long in the second period as first-year forward Annie Berg, who scored the game-winner in overtime against Western in their last matchup, put the puck in the net just 18 seconds into the period to tie the game.

The Mustangs would regain the lead eight minutes later thanks to a power play goal by Armstrong, her third marker in four games, only for Berg to pull her team even once again four minutes later.

In the last minute of play in the period, Kipfer scored her first goal of the season to give Western the lead and momentum to close out the second. Western's third goal marked the first time Murphy allowed three or more goals in a game since November 20 against Laurentian.

After nearly doubling up the Badgers in the shots on goal category in the second frame (13-7), they held a nearly identical 12-7 shot advantage in the third and didn't commit a penalty for the second straight period as they kept Brock fruitless in their comeback efforts. Murphy stopped all 12 shots to keep her team within striking distance until the very end, but Iazzolino scored an empty net goal with 12 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

The Mustangs will look to build off their strong offensive showing tomorrow, January 22, at 2 p.m. when they take on the York Lions at Canlan Ice Sports. Fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv