WATERLOO, Ont. –Three goals from three different players in a 44-second span proved to be all the offence the Mustangs would need as Western defeated the Waterloo Warriors by a 3-2 score on Saturday night at the CIF Arena.
The win gives the Mustangs a 14-3-5-2 record after their final regular season contest, and has the team in second place in the OUA standings with a three point lead over Guelph, although the Gryphons have one game in hand on Western. Waterloo moves to 8-3-11-0, good for eighth in the OUA.
Alyssa Chiarello,
April Clark, and
Claire Balas, all got in on the Mustangs scoring outburst in the second period, with each one finding the back of the net late in the second period. Sarah Rettinger and Rachel Marriott provided the scoring for Waterloo in the loss.
Carmen Lasis had another strong game in the Western net, stopping 23 of the 25 shots sent her way to pick up her 12th win of the season. Stephanie Sluys made 16 saves for the Warriors in the loss.
Waterloo opened the scoring on Saturday night, getting on the board a little more than four minutes into the first period on Rettinger's third goal of the season. The Warriors would maintain that lead for the remainder of the first period and the majority of the second before the Mustangs struck back.
Chiarello got things going with a power play marker at 17:23 of the second, converting assists from
Shailyn Waites and
Megan Taylor. Clark added another goal just 24 seconds later, registering her team-leading 12th goal of the season to give Western the lead. The Mustangs didn't stop here however, as Balas netted her first goal of the year at the perfect time, scoring only 20 seconds after Clark to put the Mustangs up by two heading into the third period.
Marriott responded for the Warriors early in the final frame, scoring just 56 seconds in, but that would be the final goal of the night, with Western taking a 3-2 victory.
The Mustangs will now turn their attention towards the playoffs, with Western having a bye week next week as other OUA teams finish up their regular season campaigns. Check back to westernmustangs.ca when the Mustangs first round playoff matchup is announced following the end of the OUA regular season on February 18.
