LONDON, Ont. – Cordell James' second period goal proved to be the game winner, as the Western Mustangs defeated the Waterloo Warriors by a 2-1 score on Wednesday night at Thompson Arena.
 
Western's record improves to 12-9-3 on the year – with the team winning eight of their last nine contests. The Mustangs remain sixth in the West standings, with their upcoming weekend of action providing the opportunity for them to advance further.
 
"Without a doubt having Luke Peressini back in between the pipes has helped us a tremendous amount. But just the mindset and the attitude that the guys came in with for the second half was a 360 difference from the start of the year," noted Michell Fitzmorris about the team's recent hot streak.
 
With the loss, Waterloo remains in the bottom of the OUA West Division with a record of 8-13-3.
 
Fitzmorris and James each marked their name on the score sheet for the Mustangs, while Waterloo's lone goal came from Markson Bechtold.
 
Western opened the scoring early, with Fitzmorris finding the back of the net only eight minutes into the first period. His quick shot through the five-hole gave the Mustangs a one-goal advantage, which they held throughout the remainder of the period.
 
"I've been working on coming down the ice and trying to get shots off quickly," said Fitzmorris about the goal. "Good pass by [Mitchell Brooks] and a good draw [from Olynek] to start the play…I think the goalie misread it, it kind of hit off his stick and went off and in, so it's lucky to get one like that. But they don't ask how, they just ask how many."
 
James and Fitzmorris would both have solid chances later in the period to extend Western's lead, but Mike Morrison stood tall in the Warrior net despite Waterloo being frequently outnumbered.
 
The Warriors would kill off a total of five penalties throughout the entirety of the game, three of which came in the first period.
 
Luke Peressini kept the Mustangs competitive, fending off 11 shots from the Warriors in the first frame. Also making strong contributions on the defensive end were Trevor Warnaar and Rylan Bechtel, who both blocked a number of shots in the first period.
 
After narrowly being stopped by Morrison in the first period, James finally hit the mark to make it 2-0 for Western midway through the second frame.
 
Spenser Cobbold earned the primary assist on the goal, with James picking up the puck and sliding it in on the glove side after Cobbold's initial shot rebounded off Morrison's pad.
 
"[Rob Polesello] gave a nice pass to Cobbs in the slot and then I was able to get the rebound. The goalie was sliding the other way so I just put it in there," said James about his game-winning goal.
 
The game became increasingly aggressive as play wore on, with both teams continuing to rack up penalties. Despite having five power play chances and the best power play percentage in the league (25.3), the Mustangs were unable to capitalize on a relatively weak Waterloo penalty kill.
 
"We just had trouble getting in their zone after the breakout," noted James. "There were a couple times where we had it in their zone and worked it around – we just couldn't find the back of the net there."
 
"The first couple power plays, we didn't generate much," admitted assistant coach Patrick Ouellet. "The last two were good – we didn't score but the guys moved the puck really well, created chances for ourselves, the puck just didn't go in."
 
However, Mustangs special teams did find success with four killed penalties of their own.
 
Western's 2-0 lead would last until the final period, when Bechtold scored the only Warrior goal of the game and his third of the season. It came just one minute into the period, and was the result of a sharp pass across the net from Eric Diodati.
 
The score remained the same through the final 19 minutes of the game, although Cobbold nearly beat Morrison on several strong attempts, with Western taking a 2-1 win.
 
Western is back in action tomorrow night, as they travel to Laurier to take on the Golden Hawks. Game time is set for 7 pm, with fans able to catch all the action live on OUA.tv.