The Mustangs closed out the regular season last week with a 3-2 overtime victory over Queen's, and are now set to take on the Waterloo Warriors in an OUA Quarterfinal series beginning Thursday in Waterloo.

Last week's win was the sixth in a row for the Stangs, a streak that came at the most important time of the season. The first of the six wins immediately followed a third straight loss that endangered their playoff hopes and came against a playoff contender in the Brock Badgers, who would've surpassed Western in the standings at that point had they earned the victory.

Two of the wins were against the Gaels, which proved to be the difference in the Mustangs earning the OUA's fifth seed for the playoffs, as Western won the tiebreaker over the Gaels who also finished the season with 39 points.

As a result of their six-game streak, the Mustangs have climbed all the way up from seventh place on January 15 to fifth by season's end. They will be pitted against the fourth seeded Waterloo Warriors in the first round of the playoffs beginning this Thursday, February 23 at 7 p.m. in Waterloo.

OUA Quarterfinals – Tune in to each game live on OUA.tv and CHRW Radio
Game 1 – Mustangs at Warriors – Thursday, February 23 – 7 p.m.
Game 2 – Warriors at Mustangs – Friday, February 24 – 7 p.m.
Game 3 (If necessary) – Mustangs at Warriors – Sunday, February 26 – 2:30 p.m.

The Warriors were one of the Mustangs' toughest challenges this season as they split the season series, and in the two games they played each side earned a hard-fought win in their opponent's arena.

The first of the two matchups took place at the Thompson Arena in October with the Waterloo handing Western their first loss on home ice by a score of 4-2. The Warriors were led by a strong performance from Rachel Marriott; the veteran forward tallied three points including the game-winning goal as part of a two-goal third period that helped secure the victory for the Warriors.

Their second matchup of the season took place just under a month later with the Mustangs prevailing in double overtime by a score of 2-1. Marriott continued to play well against the purple and white, registering a goal in the second period that would end up sending the game to overtime. Goaltender Katie Jacobs and forward Amanda Pereira were the two key contributors for Western; Jacobs turned aside 31 of 32 shot attempts, including four in the two overtime periods, and Pereira scored both goals for her team.

Not only have the two teams already met in the regular season, this will also be a rematch of last year's quarterfinals, a series which was won 2-0 by the Mustangs. Western held the Warriors scoreless in both games, something the Warriors will be looking to remedy in this year's series.

Waterloo's offence hasn't been as potent as many other teams in the OUA this season, however; they ranked tenth in goals scored per game while the Mustangs offence ranked second. They have been strong defensively, ranking in the top four in the conference in goals against average and penalty kill percentage, and will need to continue to be as they'll be up against a Mustangs team that ranked first in shots, power play goals, and power play percentage.