The Western Mustangs will look to end the first half of their season strong when they hit the ice at the Meridian Center on Saturday afternoon to take on the Brock Badgers.

The end of the first half of the season also wraps up a stretch of four consecutive road games for the purple and white, the longest string of road games they will play in succession all season. The road trip began on November 18 with a victory against the Laurier Golden Hawks, followed by a narrow victory over the Windsor Lancers and a defeat to the defending McCaw Cup champion Guelph Gryphons.

Despite the 2-1 final score, there were plenty of shot attempts from both the Mustangs and Lancers last Friday evening in Windsor, as was to be expected; these two teams currently rank in the top four in the OUA for total shots.
Getting her third consecutive start between the pipes for Western, goaltender Tareya Webster made a season-high 30 saves en route to her fourth victory of the season. Opposite to Webster, Western kept Lancers goaltender Molly Jenkins busy by taking 37 shots. Jenkins, who ranks third in saves among OUA goaltenders, helped Windsor stay in the game by allowing only two goals and holding Western 0-5 on the powerplay, but Rachel Armstrong's second period tally was enough to put the Mustangs ahead for good.

Western then travelled to Guelph to play the Gryphons the following night. The Gryphons took control of the game early, scoring three times in the first period on nine shots and extending the lead to five in the second frame. April Clark scored twice afterwards to bring her goal total for the season to an OUA-leading 11, while also snapping a four-game streak where the Mustangs failed to score with the skater advantage.

The calendar year finale presents a demanding test for the Mustangs as they take on the OUA's second-ranked Badgers. Western will look for redemption following their shootout loss to Brock on home ice in October. The two power play goals between the teams were the only goals scored in regulation as the game required overtime and then a shootout, where Maggie Spratt-Mallick potted the only goal to secure the victory for the Badgers.

Brock has found success all season through strong special teams play and goaltending, led by the efforts of goaltender Jensen Murphy.

Murphy has the highest save total and top save percentage in the OUA, allowing two or fewer goals in all but one game this season. Despite ranking in the lower half in the OUA in goals per game, Brock ranks fourth in power play percentage.

A return to form of their own recently struggling power play unit would surely help the Mustangs get the puck passed Murphy while their penalty killing unit will look to shut down Brock's power play attacks; Western now sits at above 90% on the penalty kill this season thanks to their current six-game stretch of not allowing a power play goal.