LONDON, Ont. - The Western men's soccer team earned their first win of the season with a 3-1 victory over the Brock Badgers on Saturday afternoon on Mustang Field.
With the win, the Mustangs improve to 1-1-2 and overtake the Badgers for fifth place in the OUA West division. The Badgers loss will drop them to seventh in the OUA West division standings with a 1-3-0 record on the season.
Three players contributed goals to the Mustang cause, as Raffael Cote, Kairuv Juta, and Christian Devia each tallied one goal while Mark Serjeant and Jeremy Arnold each chipped in an assist, helping to facilitate the scoring.
"Obviously it's a good feeling to be able to contribute to the win and I have to thank Jeremy [Arnold] for setting me up so well," said Devia, commenting on his game-deciding goal. "We have great chemistry up and down the roster and we have a lot of guys that have gotten to play with one another for a long time, so it helps us play as a unit."
"That was Devia's second goal already for us this year, and it was a quality finish, so he's obviously a big piece of what we do," said Head Coach Martin Painter. "He's got skill and creativity, but he's always working on his game and looking to improve."
Western controlled the ball for the first ten minutes of the game, however, Brock's Arsen Platis opened the scoring on the day by netting the Badger's first goal to give his team a 1-0 lead. However, just six minutes later, Western's Juta scored a goal of his own to tie the game at 1-1 apiece. The Mustangs' chances continued into the end of the half, but they were unable to convert, heading into the second half with a 1-1 tie.
Western's constant pressure was quickly rewarded in the second half, as Devia earned the lead for the purple and white with a quick goal. A physical battle between both sides led to limited shots on goal the rest of the way. However, Western's Cote chipped in one final goal to extend the advantage for the Mustangs, leading to the eventual 3-1 victory.
"Our first three games were obviously a little tougher for us, but I feel like we really left it all out there today," said Devia. "We wanted to finish the weekend with a win and we got the job done. Fatigue plays a big factor with the schedule we've had recently but we pushed through. This is a step in the right direction and hopefully we can grow from this."
"We created some good chances today, certainly more than our previous games, and we need to keep building on that," said Painter. "Fatigue was obviously a big factor, but the other team was in the same boat. We just had to grind through it and that's what we managed to do. It was a good win, but we have a long way to go."
Western will be back in action next Saturday, September 9, where they will take on the Waterloo Warriors on Mustang Field for their first meeting of the season. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:15 P.M. EST.