LONDON, Ont. – The Ryerson Rams proved to be a third period team after scoring three goals in the final frame to win 3-2 over the Western Mustangs Friday night at Thompson Arena.
 
With Ryerson currently tied for first place in the West division, just ahead of the Mustangs, Western looked to tighten up the gap between themselves and the Rams. 
 
Western's goals were scored by Spenser Cobbold and Kyle Langdon. The Rams' goals were scored by Matthew Santos, Gregory DiTomaso, and Matt Mistele. 
 
The Mustangs were the first to strike in tonight's match-up. Some tic-tac-toe passing between Trevor Warnaar and Ryan Bechtel on a seamless powerplay breakout led to a great goal-scoring chance that Cobbold capitalized on. 
 
"We haven't really held up our end of the bargain on the powerplay, and we have to continue to work on in and make some minor adjustments," commented Mustangs' head coach Clarke Singer. "But it was certainly nice to see them get a goal; Spenser has been real good for us." 
 
The Mustangs extended their lead to two halfway through the first period with a goal from Langdon. Mitchell Brooks made a pass from the corner that found its way to Mitchell Fitzmorris' stick. He fed the puck through to Langdon who completed the offensive play, putting the puck past Rams' goalie Taylor Dupuis. 
 
This would be Langdon's first goal of the season. 
 
"It was kind of weighing on me a bit too much. I think it has been about 12 or 13 games since I've scored," said Langdon. "It felt good."
 
Singer also felt good about Langdon's play, not just tonight, but over the course of the season. 
 
"Kyle has played very well for us," he said. "He's a guy who has come in, like a lot of first year guys, and he's found his way here. He is going to be important for us down the stretch, and it's obviously great to see him get his first goal."
 
The offensive chances continued for Western as the last minutes of the first period expired, with Brooks flying down the wing and ringing a shot off the crossbar on the penalty kill, demonstrating offensive skill despite being down a man.  
 
The Mustangs ended the first period against the Rams with a two goal lead.  
 
Both Dupuis and Luke Peressini were perfect between the pipes in the second period, allowing no goals against. Ryerson outshot Western 16-6.  

The Mustangs started the third period with three men in the box, playing 45 seconds with a two-man deficit. The five on three only lasted a few seconds before Santos scooped up his own rebound and shot the puck through Peressini. 
 
This goal put the Rams within one point of the Mustangs with almost an entire period to go and would be the start of their third period comeback.  
 
"They got that powerplay goal, five on three, and that changed momentum for them," Singer said. "It gave them a little bit of life, a little bit of energy."
 
The Rams' momentum continued at the halfway mark, when Alex Di Carlo of the Mustangs had his shot blocked at the point, which sent the Rams down on a two on one. DiTomaso ripped one off the post and into the net, tying up the game 2-2. 
 
But, just as it looked like the game was going into overtime, they game ended a little quicker than anticipated. As the final seconds died down, the Rams squeaked one last goal into the back of the net behind Peressini with just one second left on the clock. Mistele would be credited for the goal, with an assist from Hayden McCool. The final score was 3-2 for Ryerson. 
 
Despite the loss, Coach Singer felt positive about the game his team played. 
 
"We had some good chances, we buried, we missed a couple open nets, but you're gonna give up a little against a really good team, and we did," he said. "And obviously the back-breaker with a second left is a tough one to swallow because I thought overall we had a pretty good night." 
 
Western will have the night to regroup before getting on the road early tomorrow for an afternoon match-up against Laurier. 
 
"We have to get up and go tomorrow again, and that's life, that's sport," said Singer. "Lots of bad losses, lots of great wins. You just gotta try and not ride the wave very much, and get back and get ready for a tough Laurier team, who we have not matched up very well against this year." 
 
The Mustangs will return to the ice on Saturday, January 26 at 2:00pm when they face the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks in Waterloo. Fans can catch all the action live, at OUA.tv.