London, ON – A shorthanded goal from Cordell James would be the game-winner in a gritty, physical 2-1 tilt between the Mustangs and the York Lions on Saturday night.
"I've mentioned it before - special teams will win you hockey games, and it did today. We scored a shorthanded goal on top of that, so that's the difference in the game," said assistant coach Patrick Ouellette on the win.
Spenser Cobbold and Cordell James would both lock in their third goals of the season. York's lone goal came from Josh Lafrance.
Tonight's highly anticipated game had the Western Mustangs taking on the York Lions in the second annual Snowy Saddle, where events staff had a mechanical bull, live band, and country saloon set up. The night began with a special tribute to some of Western's varsity teams who have had exceptional athletic success in the fall.
After giving up a tough loss to the Laurier Goldenhawks on Friday, Western was sitting in fourth place, just one point behind York. A win in tonight's matchup was critical for either team - York would either separate themselves slightly from Western in the standings, or the Mustangs would move one point ahead of York, securing third place.
There was no shortage of intensity in the first period with both teams landing themselves a goal each.
The Mustangs would score first amid a full, cheering crowd of students, parents, and fans. After scooping up a puck after a messy face-off, Cobbold skated across the slot and roofed a shot over the shoulder of Mack Shields, making the score 1-0. Kyle Pettit was credited for the assist.
"It was just a little bit of a scramble off the face-off and the puck squeaked out to me, and I just put it in," said Cobbold. "I went to my forehand, backhand and back to the forehand."
Just 30 seconds later, Cobbold tried to snag his second of the game after he found himself on a breakaway, but he wouldn't be quite as lucky this time, putting it into the glove of Lions goalie.
"He was giving me a bit of net for a second there, so I just tried to rip there as hard as I could and he just made a good save."
Just as it seemed the Mustangs were gathering all the momentum, the Lions wouldn't be caught sleeping. They responded quickly to the score when Lafrance snuck the puck past the shoulder of Peressini, tying up the game.
The second period witnessed some quickly escalating emotions from the competing teams, resulting in a total of 10 penalties for the Lions and Mustangs.
Despite the distractions, Peressini and Shields kept the goals at one each during the period, with Western only just outshooting York 10-9.
As the last minutes of the final frame began to expire, Kolten Olynek took a boarding penalty that gave the Lions an opportunity to get a late powerplay goal to finish the game. However, Western's special teams unit demonstrated great offence, landing themselves a shorthanded goal. James deked out Shields after battling hard in the corner, and stealing the puck off a Lions defenceman. Only 55 seconds remained in the period.
"We were trying to kill off the penalty and we want to apply pressure and not let them get out of their zone still. I was fortunate enough to get a bounce there, and obviously when you get a bounce like that you want to try and score," said James on his goal. "Where I was coming from with the puck I knew that I wasn't going to be able to shoot it and I was going to have to make some type of move and I was able to get him to bite there."
This two point win allowed Western to move ahead of York in the standings, and give them some momentum as they head to Toronto on Friday for a re-match against the Lions.
"The guys are going to be playing hard next week, so we just have to be ready and play our game. Whatever happens we will battle and we'll try to get the win," said James.
The Mustangs will return to the ice at 7pm on Friday, January 18 when they meet the York Lions in Toronto. Fans can catch all the action live,
at OUA.tv.
