LONDON, Ont. – A 16-point performance from Sara Svoboda led the McMaster Marauders to a 31-10 victory over the Western Mustangs on Friday evening at Alumni Field.
 
"I thought first half we really stuck with them, [McMaster] is ranked in the Top 10 and we were pretty tight with them," said Mustangs head coach John Weller. "We couldn't stop them on the goalline a couple of times, and if we can turn one of those over maybe it's a different game. Second half I thought we had a bit of a deflation after kick off, and then really finished strong. So if we can really fix that mindset right after the second half it's a different game."
 
Olivia Murphy and Kaitlin Eckert provided the scoring for the Mustangs, with each recording a try in the loss. Sara Svoboda's 16 points led all players and came off of two tries and three converts. The Marauders three other successful tries came from Monique Sluys and Keyara Valencia-Hinds in the first half, with Selena Seguin adding another in the second.
 
Sluys opened the scoring on Friday, making a final push over the line to put the Marauders up 5-0 less than eight minutes into the contest. Murphy then responded for Western a little more than 10 minutes later, however the Marauders took control of the scoreboard after that as the first half ended with two tries and a convert to put McMaster up 19-5 at halftime.
 
The Marauders continued to roll in the early part of the second half scoring in both the 44th and 58th minutes to go up 31-5.
 
Western rebounded in the latter portion of the second half, putting pressure on the Marauders and breaking through with a try from Eckert in the 72nd minute. Despite the Mustangs strong finish the Marauders walked away with a 31-10 victory.
 
The Mustangs will be back in action on Saturday, September 23rd, when they head to Guelph to take on the Gryphons. Game time is set for 12 p.m. at Varsity Field.
 
"We're just looking to get week-on-week improvement as a group. This was a big improvement over last week in Queen's, and we're just looking to personally and as a team grow and develop," said Weller. "Guelph's a tough team as well, third in the country last year, but I think if we get our best 15 on the field and they all play to their potential we can play with anyone."