LONDON, Ont. - The Western Mustangs' women's rugby team fell by a 73-0 margin to the powerhouse Guelph Gryphons on Friday evening on Alumni Field.

With the loss, the Mustangs will drop to 0-3 on the season, as they will look to move up the OUA SHIELS division standings with their upcoming match against McMaster. Guelph's victory improves their record to 2-0 on the season, as they sit atop the OUA SHIELS division standings.

"Guelph is one of the more dominant teams in the province - one of the more dominant teams in the country - but we're just focused on improving our game one day at a time," said Mustangs head coach John Weller. "Today wasn't the result we were looking for, but with a young team, you have to take each game as a chance to grow. We made some positive changes down the stretch, now we just have to keep working on our execution on defence."

"It's tough not to walk into a game with some pre-game jitters when you know you're going up against such a competitive team, but I think it quickly turns into excitement more than anything else," said Western's Lexi Smith. "I think we made some good adjustments at halftime, and although it obviously didn't translate to the scoreboard, we always look to take something away from games like this."

The Gryphons came out of the gate firing the open the first half, as Guelph's Everett sparked the attack, completing an incredible run through the Western line to earn the initial 5-0 lead. Everett continued to find success throughout the half alongside her teammate Jada, who also found her way into the Western try zone multiple times in the half. Guelph's combination of speed and strength continued to dominate the game into halftime, as Western found themselves facing a 39-0 deficit heading into halftime.

The second half was much of the same for the purple and white, as Guelph continued to make their way down the field, spearheaded by their ball movement, skill, and the dominance of Everett and Jada. The Mustangs kept battling until the very end, nearly earning themselves a handful of tries to close out the game, but the Gryphons' defence proved too strong down the stretch as they cruised to the 73-0 victory.

"Our competition has been incredibly competitive to start the season, but I have faith we can bounce back and become a competitive team ourselves," said Weller. "We're going to be looking at a lot this week and hoping to tighten up some areas in our game."

The Mustangs will be back in action next Saturday, September 22, where they will travel to Hamilton, Ont. to take on the McMaster Marauders. The game is scheduled to begin at 11:00 A.M. EST.