Box Score London, ONT – A pair of goals from Mitchell Brooks helped lead the Western Mustangs to a 4-1 win on Friday night in their home opener against the Concordia Stingers.
 
Western's offence was provided by Mitchell Brooks, Stephen Desrocher, and Anthony Stefano. Concordia's only goal would be scored by Philipe Hudon.
 
The Mustangs were preparing for a tough game against the Stingers, who had three wins under their belt. But with just 14 seconds left in the first period, Brooks roofed a backhand on Concordia goalie Olivier Tremblay with a feed from Desrocher. This would be Brooks' first of the OUA season.
 
"We did a great job on the fore-check," said Brooks. "Out front was open a lot and Desrocher made a great play to me. To be honest I thought I lost it and when I regained it he wasn't in a good position so I tried to get it up as quick as I could. I've been working on that one a lot."
 
Mustangs goalie Luke Peressini played a perfect period between the posts, denying all 17 of the Stingers shots on net. 
 
In the second frame, Desrocher nearly scored with 16 seconds left on the power play. He made up for it a few minutes later when he got a shot through traffic with a pass from Cordell James at the top of the circles, giving the Mustangs a 2-0 lead with seven minutes left in the period.
 
Five seconds into the Stingers power-play in the final frame, there was a scramble in front of Peressini. Stingers forward Hudon capitalized on a feed from Bradley Lalonde, pocketing one on Peressini. Not shortly after however, Stefano responded and took advantage of a Mustang two on one, burying it past Tremblay.
 
Brooks scored his second and the last of the night with a top-shelf backhand after tripping up the Stingers defence with 12 minutes of play left.
 
"I had a bet with someone that I would score two goals tonight and that's never happened before," said Brooks.
 
After facing 38 shots and only allowing one goal, Peressini and the rest of the Mustangs came out with a 4-1 win.
 
"He was outstanding, there is not much to say," said assistant coach Patrick Ouellet when asked about Peressini's performance. "He stood on his head when we needed him. He did what we expected out of him and more."

Western is now tied fourth place in the West division with a 3-3-0 record, while Concordia sits in a tie for fifth place in the Eastern division, also with a record of 3-3-0.
 
The Mustangs will return to the ice tomorrow on Saturday, October 27 when they host the McGill Redmen at 4pm. Fans can catch all the action live, at OUA.tv.