Box Score London, ON – The Western Mustangs suffered a frustrating 2-1 shootout loss to the Laurier Golden Hawks Saturday night at Thompson Arena. 
 
After 20 minutes, both teams were scoreless, despite each having a shot at a power play opportunity.
 
Just shortly after the start of the second period, Trevor Warnaar would put the first goal on the board after Cordell James made a whole-hearted block in the defensive zone. This would send line mates Warnaar and Ethan Szypula down the ice on an odd-man rush, where Szypula found the stick of Warnaar who was driving hard to the net. Warnaar re-directed the puck past Laurier goaltender Tyler Fassl, giving Western a 1-0 lead. 
 
"We had a break from the blue line and Szyps had the puck going down the wing," said Warnaar on his goal. "He made a good play giving it to me backdoor. It was an easy tap-in, so it was more of a play on him than it was on me."
 
With a few key saves by Mustangs goaltender Luke Peressini and a disciplined penalty kill executed by the Mustangs, they were able to hang on to a 1-0 lead going into the third period, despite being out-shot 11-5 to the Golden Hawks.
 
Eight minutes into the third period, Jeremy Pullara of the Golden Hawks tied up the score, with assists from Christian Mroczkoski and Michael Silveri.
 
Into the final minutes of the third period, Western was charged with two minor penalties, giving the Golden Hawks a 5 on 3 opportunity for a full two minutes. But, with a well-executed penalty kill led by James, Stephen Desrocher, and Mustangs Captain Jonathan Laser, the Golden Hawks were unable to profit on their 2-man advantage, sending this Saturday night match-up into overtime.
 
Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer was pleased with the penalty kill he witnessed. "Our kill has been great all year, it's been absolutely one of our strengths. You see by the job they did today, especially on that full 5 on 3 they had. I was really impressed with those guys, sacrificing and blocking shots."
 
As for Peressini's play, Singer was impressed as usual. "You're not successful in this league unless you have a great goalie, and Luke's been doing a great job for us. He made a ton of big saves on their 5 on 3 late in the game that ended up getting us to overtime."
 
After the referees ruled a no-goal by Desrocher in overtime, the score stayed at 1's, sending the teams into a shootout.
 
Western would be unable to find the back of the net on both shootout attempts, while the Golden Hawks would go 2/2 on their shots, defeating Western 2-1.
 
"Any time you get to 3 on 3 overtime it's 50/50. It's the same as a shootout. But, all credit to them, they deserved the two points," said Singer. "We just can't seem to get above 500 – we're close, we crawl back every weekend, but we just can't seem to get the job done."
 
The Mustangs will attempt to get back to .500 next weekend when they face the Windsor Lancers at home. Until then, the team has a week to re-focus and rest.
 
"We've had a long stretch here of lots of games and travel, so we're going to have a light, early week next week. We'll have a skills practice, get a day off, and get back to work on Wednesday and Thursday," said Singer. 
 
The Mustangs return to home-ice on Friday, November 9 against the Windsor Lancers, watch it live online, at OUA.tv.