LONDON, Ont. - First-year striker Sebastian Fischer scored his fourth goal of the season to help lead the Western men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over the Windsor Lancer on Sunday afternoon on Mustangs Field. 

With the win, the Mustangs improve to 7-3-4 as they sit tied for third place in the OUA West division standings. The Lancers' loss drops them to a 5-5-4 record, placing them in sixth place in the OUA West division. 

One other Mustang scored for the purple and white, as Anthony Chrysanthou netted his fifth goal of the season to help extend Western's lead midway through the second half. 

"I think the biggest difference today was that we were able to maintain our pressure for the entire game," said Fischer. "On Friday, we were inconsistent in our energy, but today we just came out with a stronger mindset and it allowed us to build the lead in the second half." 

"I think overall we were very good today in limiting their opportunities, but there were still moments where we were a bit tentative, so we have work to do," said Mustangs head coach Martin Painter. "The energy was good and I'm happy with how the guys executed on their shots, but we still have to work on playing a full 90 minutes." 

Windsor controlled the attack early in the opening half, pressuring the Western defence in their own zone but were unable to earn a shot on goal for the majority of the frame. However, Fischer would eventually put the Mustangs on the scoreboard with a penalty shot following a Windsor trickery penalty to give the purple and white the 1-0 lead heading into halftime. 

Neither team was able to find the back of the net for much of the second half as the competitiveness and physicality continued to amount. The match remained intense throughout the second half, with a total of nine yellow cards and one red card handed out on the day, but the focus of the purple and white never waned. 

Western continued to battle until their efforts were finally rewards as a perfect assist from Fischer to Chrysanthou allowed the purple and white to extend their lead with 20 minutes left in the match. Windsor would make one final push late in the half, scoring a penalty shot of their own to cut the deficit to 2-1. But despite the final surge from the Lancers, time would eventually run out as the Mustangs escaped with the 2-1 victory. 

"I think our mental toughness made a big difference for us down the stretch," said Fischer. "I think in an emotional game like today's, it was important for us to be the more disciplined team and our focus was a big reason why we ended up winning." 

"There are some games you get a lot of cards and you're frustrated with the team, but I actually thought our discipline was extremely good today, despite the cards," said Painter. "I think the team was sharper than they were given credit for, but that's just the way the game went. We're not going to dwell on that, we're going to focus on the fact that we're coming out of today with three points. We have a really tough couple of matchups to finish the season, so we have to just keep looking ahead and not worrying about the potential repercussions of this game." 

The Mustangs will be back in action this Friday, October 12, where they will host the Guelph Gryphons in their second meeting of the season. The game is scheduled to begin at 8:15 on Mustangs Field.