London, ON –Third period saviour Renae Nevills lifted the Western Mustangs to a 1-0 win over the York Lions Friday night at Thompson arena.
"They're an aggressive team and we knew that going into this game, where it's we touch the puck, they're going to have two on us, maybe three," said Mustangs' head coach Candice Moxley. "I thought we did well, competing and winning battles, but York brought another level tonight, and we saw it, and we were able to bend and not break, and able to get the job done today."
Western proved again that their defence are also offensive contributors. The lone goal scorer Nevills netted her third of the season. Goaltender Carmen Lasis secured her first shut out of the season as well.
"She's doing amazing right now," said Nevills about Lasis. "Obviously, carried us through nationals and our McCaw Cup champion, so we're really happy with the way she's performing right now, she held us in the game there."
The first frame went by goal-less, even though Western secured five shots in the first three minutes while on the power play.
Eight minutes in, Evra Levesque made it past the Lions' defence when she received a stretch pass over the blue line, but they were on her tail, and she couldn't get the puck through goaltender Lauren Dubie.
Shailyn Waites took the puck to the low corner and sent a cross pass to April Clark. She netted the puck with 10 minutes left in the first, but the referees called it off, and the teams were unable to break the deadlock.
York displayed their powerful penalty kill again early in the second period, only allowing two shots on Dubie. They currently have a 93.9% season success rate.
With seven minutes left in the second, a Mustangs' team effort secured a four on one in their offensive end. Clark attempted to make a cross crease pass, but no one was there to receive the puck, and Western didn't get a shot on this chance.
Four minutes into the final frame, both teams' defenders increased pressure and didn't allow any shots. It took eight minutes for Western to get their first.
Halfway through the period, Nevills was fed the puck from Brooke Diciccio and Levesque.
"I think it was Ev that won the face off back and I just did a quick release—our coach has been on me for quick releases," said Nevills. "I think it hit off one of their defence and luckily it went in…We had good drivers too that pushed the defence back, which ultimately, that's why it hit them."
York pulled Dubie with three minutes left but could not get on the board. Clark almost marked Western's insurance marker, however, with 15 seconds of play left. It was a one on one with an empty net, but York's defender managed to snag the puck away from her.
"I think we did a great job at blocking shots, getting pucks out," said captain Evra Levesque. "I think honestly they didn't get much chances at the end there. So, I think collectively we did a really good job defensively."
With the 1-0 win, Western sits at 6-1-0-1 and is tied for first in the OUA. York is tied for second last with a record of 2-5-0-1.
"We need to clean up just our awareness in our D-zone," said coach Moxley. "I think we had a lot of opportunities on the offensive end, but I think we gave up a little bit too much—wingers not getting shot lanes, not blocking shots, and paying the price to get it done in the D-zone. Hopefully we can clean it up there, and once our D-zone's taken care of, then we can look forward to scoring some goals."
The Mustangs have a tight turnaround and are in St. Catharines tomorrow at 2:15pm to face the Brock Badgers. Fans can catch the action live at OUA.tv.
