LONDON, Ont. — April Clark and Megan Taylor provided the offence for the Mustangs on Friday, scoring one goal each in the shootout to help Western take a 1-0 win over the York Lions at Thompson Arena.
 
"If we look at our overall game, it wasn't our best effort as a group," said head coach Kelly Paton. "I think our puck management could have been improved, and our fundamental pass and receive, especially through the neutral zone—it could've helped generate a bit more speed on the attack. But, overall, we're happy with the two points, and we're going to continue to hopefully climb, or at least stay at the top of the standings and get home ice."
 
Western now sits at 13-3-5-2, good for second place in the OUA standings, with the shootout victory extends their winning streak to five games. York is ranked third last, placing at 13-2-5-3 with the loss.
 
Prior to puck drop, the Mustangs had a Senior Day red-carpet ceremony to honour the team's six senior players. Lindsey O'Neill, Brianna Rice, Megan Taylor, Ali Beres, Amanda Pereira, and captain Emma Pearson are in their final seasons with the Mustangs, with Friday night's contest marking their final regular season home game. They received bouquets from Paton, and their parents were brought on the ice to celebrate their careers with them.
 
"It means so much to us," said Pearson about being honoured. "I mean, most of us have been playing hockey since we've been four or five years old, and so to be able to be celebrated like this really means a lot. The girls made a really big effort before the game to make us feel special and they really did, so it was really nice for us."
 
No goals were scored in the three periods and overtime by either team, with Carmen Lasis stopping 33 shots to record the fourth shutout of her OUA career, while Lauren Dubie made 25 saves in the loss.
 
Both sides were fairly even in the opening frame with almost uninterrupted back-and-forth play, as they played through the 20-minute period in 25 minutes. The only notation on the scoresheet was one York penalty for too many players on the ice.
 
The second frame also went by without a goal for either team. Western had several close opportunities, but the players were unable to complete their passes due to the Lions' traffic in front of the net.
 
Lasis did not see a shot on net until four minutes into the second, when two York players took on the same number of Mustang defence rushing the net. They completed a cross crease pass, but Lasis slid to make the save.
 
On Western's second power play of the night, they almost secured a scoring opportunity, but the puck slid behind Dubie and hit the post, just missing the goal line.
 
"York plays us tough. They're a physical team," said Clark. "They just take the body, and we got to work on playing a full 60-minutes. We can't let that happen again."
 
Lasis was the third period's MVP, making 11 saves and keeping Western in the game. The deadlock continued in the third frame, and the Lions and Mustangs headed to three-on-three overtime to settle the score.
 
Evra Levesque made two great plays in overtime, first snatching a shot out of the air with her glove on a defensive two-on-one, and then on a breakaway with one-minute left. Neither team could beat the other's goalie, leading to Dubie and Lasis going head-to-head in the shootout.
 
"Three-on-three is stressful, but it's also kind of fun to have so much space to work with on the ice," said Taylor. "The girls got a lot of speed, and that really shows their skills off. It's fun, but I'm glad we got the win at the end of the day."
 
Lasis saved both York shots, and Clark and Taylor each scored on Dubie to end the shootout after two shooters and lead Western to a 1-0 win.
 
"I was really nervous when Kelly picked me first," said Clark, "But I just went down, and I've played with this goalie before, so I knew I couldn't deke and do my move. I saw the top corner, so I just shot it there, and luckily it went in."
 
Western faces Waterloo tomorrow night for their final regular season game.
 
"Another small rink, so we can expect some physical play," said Paton. "They're a fast team too, so I think it's going to be a quick game, and, you know, puck management's going to be really important and trying to get on our fore-check early."
 
The Mustangs are on the road tomorrow night for their match up against the Waterloo Warriors at 7 p.m. Tune in for all the action live on OUA.tv and Radio Western 94.9 FM.