After closing out 2017 with a 4-2 win over the nationally ranked Brock Badgers, the Mustangs will look to pick up some momentum to start out 2018 against the Waterloo Warriors and Toronto Varsity Blues.
The Mustangs are 7-1-3-2 at the halfway point in their season, and are in third in the OUA, and only two points behind the second place Badgers, with a game in hand.

Western had a strong opening half to their season, despite facing some of the toughest competition in the OUA. The Mustangs have proven that they can compete with the best teams, by defeating nationally ranked squads like the Badgers, as well as Nipissing earlier in the season.  The toughest matchup for the purple and white came against Queen's, the top team in the OUA, which ended in a 4-0 loss for Western.

April Clark continues to lead the team, as she dominates the OUA in goals (11), points (15), and power play goals (four). Clark is having a career season, already surpassing her career high eight goals from last season in half as many games.

Special teams have contributed to the Mustangs success up front as well, boasting the best power play in the OUA, capitalizing on the man advantage 21.6% of the time. 

The Mustangs have also found solid goaltending in rookie Carmen Lasis, and Tareya Webster, with the tandem posting a .919 and .922 save percentage, respectively. This puts both the Mustangs netminders in the top 15 in the OUA.

Western vs Waterloo – Thursday, January 4^th, at 7:00 p.m.

Waterloo will head into Thursday's matchup with a 6-2-3-0 record, just one win away from tying the Mustangs for third place in the league. The Warriors have proven they can compete with the toughest teams in the OUA, defeating Nipissing to close out 2017, and are one of only two teams to defeat the OUA leading Queen's Gaels.

The Mustangs' meeting with the Warriors will be their first matchup since the preseason of this year, where Western prevailed in a 2-1 victory at home in early October. The purple and white will be looking for their first regular-season victory over the Warriors since last year, when Western's season was ended in the quarterfinals at the hands of a competitive Waterloo team. The entire matchup proved to be a contested affair, as Western fell 2-1 in a series which would ultimately send Waterloo to their first semi-final appearance in program history while ending the Mustangs' season.

The Warriors will rely on their tight defensive core to weather the Mustangs powerful offense.  Waterloo has allowed the second fewest goals against, with goalie Stephanie Sluys leading the way with a .952 save percentage, good for fifth in the league. Additionally, the strong Western power play will face tough competition in the Warriors penalty kill, which is successful 93% of the time.

This will be the first time these two teams have faced off against each other this season, with the last meeting between the two see Western take a narrow 2-1 victory in pre-season action.

Western at Toronto – Saturday, January 6^th, at 7:00 p.m.

The Varsity Blues come into Saturday's game in the playoff bubble, squeaking into one of the last playoff positions just before the winter break. With a 6-0-5-1 record, the Blues will be looking to solidify their playoff spot with a home win, as they start off 2018 with a four game home stand. After a rough patch that saw the team drop five consecutive games, the Blues went 2-2 to end 2017, and will be looking to build momentum in 2018.

Western will be entering their second game of the season against Toronto following a meeting in early November which resulted in a 2-1 home-loss for the purple and white. Despite the loss, the game proved to be a back and forth affair for the Mustangs, as Shana Alexander brought the Mustangs back into the game with a shorthanded goal before the Blues scored late in the third to escape with the win. This will be Western's only chance to avenge the loss, as this game against Toronto will be the teams' final regular-season meeting with the Blues this season.

The Blues have run into penalty problems, accumulating 129 penalty minutes over 12 games, compared to the 116 of the Mustangs while having played one more game than the Blues. Special teams may play an important role in deciding the game if the Blues cannot stay out of the penalty box, with an 85% successful penalty kill, and a power play that can only capitalize 8% of the time.

Toronto has a defense comparable to the Mustangs, with similar stats in goals against average, with two a game, and with a .923 save percentage.

These two teams met up earlier in the season, with the Blues edging the Mustangs 2-1 at Thompson arena. Since the loss, the Mustangs have one five of their last eight, and will be looking to avenge their early season loss.