London, Ont—A pair of goals from Alyssa Chiarello insured Western's 4-1 win against Queen's on Friday night at Thompson arena. 

At the Mustangs' season and home opener, they unveiled the 2017-2018 women's team's second-place banner from nationals in March.  

"First OUA win for me, so it's good to get that under our belt and out of the way," said Mustangs head coach Candice Moxley. "Our special teams were on tonight. I think that was a big difference maker for us because that allowed us to gain some momentum which we didn't have in the first period and a half. So, that allowed us to get the puck going a little more and sparked our girls." 

With the win, the Mustangs are now tied for third with a record of 1-0-0.  

Losing their third game of the season, the Gaels are 1-2-0 and also tied for third. 

Alyssa Chiarello, April Clark, and Rachel Armstrong provided Western's offence for the night. Chiarello scored the first of the night and the insurance marker, Clark netted the tie-breaking goal in the third, and Armstrong scored an empty-netter.  

Queen's second year Taylor Hicks scored her second of the season.  

The Mustangs had to kill over 30 seconds of a five on three with two minutes left in the first frame. The Gaels took advantage of their power play and almost netted a cross-crease pass, but goalie Carmen Lasis slid over to stop the shot.  

The second period saw seven Western and Queen's penalties, so both teams got to practice their special teams.  

Twelve minutes into the frame, Renae Nevills got kicked out of the game for checking from behind. Thirty seconds later, Queen's scored on a five on three. Hicks took advantage of the players screening Lasis and flipped the puck past her right shoulder. 

Western wasn't down for long, however, and one minute later tied it up on a four on four. Assisted by Sarah Irwin and Beatrice Dufour, Chiarello fired a clear airborne shot through Queen's goaltender Mackenzy Arsenault to end the period 1-1. 

"It came from a great pass from Irwin down to me," said Chiarello. "And I just saw the opening and took the shot, that's about it." 

The Mustangs pulled ahead six minutes into the third. Assistant captain Clark scored through the Gaels' defence, with help from teammates Chiarello and Shailyn Waites. 

"I went down, kind of a two on one, and I made a bad shot and hit the defencemen's pads," said Clark. "And then, I got it in the corner; Chiarello made a great pick, and I just walked out, and I clapped it right in the net. I usually don't score on slap shots, and everyone's making fun of me."  

Forty seconds later, and 20 seconds into a power play, Chiarello squeezed in her second of the night through chaos at the net. Her goal was assisted by Anthea Lasis and Clark. 

"There was a lot of work done by my teammates, getting it to the net," said Chiarello. "It was a rebound that was just sitting there. There was a huge scramble and I saw it there so I just went in and poked it." 

Queen's pulled their goalie with two and a half minutes left in the game, but were unable to secure a scoring opportunity. Armstrong scored an empty-netter unassisted with 30 seconds left on the clock, making Western finish with a 4-1 win. 

"We're really looking to build off the third period that we had tonight," said Moxley looking forward to tomorrow's match. "We started doing the little things right, moving our feet and communicating on breakouts, so just basically build on that period. And then again, stay out of the penalty box and make sure we get the job done when we're on the power play." 

The Mustangs are back on home ice tomorrow night at 7 pm when they face UOIT. Fans can catch the action live at OUA.tv.