Western Mustangs Sports

MUSTANGS FALL TO MARAUDERS IN FOURTH GAME OF THE SEASON

9/22/2018 6:59:00 PM

By: Francesca DeNoble

LONDON, Ont. – The McMaster Marauders used a strong second half to defeat the Western Mustangs 48-17 on Saturday afternoon on Alumni Field.

With the loss, the Mustangs will fall to a 1-3 record halfway into their season as they look to improve their intensity next week against the Toronto Varsity Blues. The Marauders' victory will carry their season record to 3-1.

McMaster struck first in the opening half as McNaughton put up the first try for an early 5-0 lead. However, Western's fly-half Federico Cisneros was quick to return with a penalty goal, putting purple and white up onto the scoreboard and successfully putting pressure onto the Marauders. Scrum-half Samuel Kahn and winger Stephen Kim also assisted with the scoring effort, bringing the Mustangs to their total score of 17 points with Cisneros tallying up the conversions.

However, shortly after tying up the score in the second half, Western's defence began to fall and the Marauders began their march down the field. Fly-half M. Richardson brought the game back into McMaster's favour with his second try of the game. While purple and white was timely with their low-tackles, it was not enough to keep up with the quick offloads of their adversary.

"McMaster is a recognized team," said Mustangs Head Coach Tom Dolezel. "We're young and inexperienced in the front row, allowing teams to beat us in the set-piece. However," he continued, "I felt our guys today actually beat them out wide. We executed our game plan of spinning the ball and playing the wide channels. We did what we wanted there, but sometimes that isn't enough. In terms of our ability to be calm under pressure, I think this was a win today."

The remainder of the last half was much of the same for the Mustangs, as McMaster continued on a scoring run by consistently winning the breakdowns close to purple's try zone. A penalty try by McNaughton brought the game to its final score of 48-17, making it McMaster's highest-scoring game of their season.

When asked if there was anything in particular the Mustangs would be working to improve upon, scrum-half Samuel Kahn commented, "It's hard to keep up with the intensity sometimes, and that can be frustrating. Things like body height when going into contact, physical grip, and staying low are very important." In terms of Western's strengths out on the pitch, Kahn added, "We were definitely moving the ball really well and it showed. The forwards were being great transition players out there…allowing us to play our wide game. I think we really accomplished that at the start: crisp passing, getting it to the wing, and then flying down the field was definitely a huge positive… I think Coach is happy with the growth we've shown since our last game."

The Mustangs will be returning to the pitch next Saturday, September 29, where they will head to Toronto to take on the Varsity Blues on their home turf. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 P.M. EST.

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