WATERLOO, Ont. – It took two overtimes and a shootout to determine a winner at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex on Saturday afternoon with the Western Mustangs prevailing over the Laurier Golden Hawks 3-2.

The victory for the purple and white is their fourth in a row and helps them keep pace in the OUA standings. With two regular season games remaining, the Mustangs are tied for sixth with Windsor and Laurentian, although the Lancers have a game in hand on both Western and the Voyageurs. All three teams are only two points up on the Brock Badgers, who are currently in ninth, just off the final playoff spot.

Western once again continued their recent theme of outshooting their opponents, setting the tone early by holding a 22-6 shot advantage over the Golden Hawks in the opening period. Having recorded the third most saves in the OUA to date, goaltender Amanda Smith was up to the challenge, keeping her team in the game by making 21 saves.

Freshman forward Emily Woodhouse rewarded her goalie by converting on the first power play opportunity of the game and giving Laurier the early lead midway through the period. That lead, however, would only last slightly more than a minute before OUA-leading point scorer Lyndsay Kirkham netted her 18th goal of the season to tie the game.

The 1-1 score would hold until the middle of the second period when Woodhouse scored for the second time on the power play. The two power play goals give her five on the season, good for third in the OUA. After failing to score more than one goal in four prior games, the Golden Hawks looked poised to break out of their offensive slump having already scored two goals midway through the game but Mustangs goalkeeper Katie Jacobs would keep them off the scoresheet for the remainder of the game.

Smith continued to play excellently between the pipes, allowing only one goal on 36 shots through two periods. Despite making 17 more saves in the third, it wasn't enough to prevent Kirkham from scoring her second goal of the game midway through the final period to level the score once again.

Evra Levesque picked up two assists on Saturday and extended her multi-point game streak to three games as she and Kirkham have combined for 16 points in their last three games. The goal brought Kirkham's season total to 19 which moves her into a tie for the most goals in the OUA.

The teams exchanged power play opportunities with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, but it was not enough to determine a winner. Laurier opened the first overtime on the power play and once again got the skater advantage with two minutes remaining, but were only able to challenge Jacobs twice. Western played with more discipline in the second overtime period, not committing any penalties and registering six shots, but could not break the deadlock either so a shootout was required.

It didn't take long for the Mustangs to end the shootout in their favour as Jacobs stopped both shots she faced and Western scored on both the shots they took, courtesy of Tia Kipfer and Rachael Armstrong, to win the shootout 2-0 and the game 3-2.

The Mustangs will be back in action tomorrow, February 12 at 4 p.m. on home ice for Senior Day to take on the UOIT Ridgebacks, with live streaming available on OUA.tv.