LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs kicked off their 2019-20 season Friday night, taking on Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. The game was a spirited affair that the Mustangs came out of on the losing end.
The Mustangs got off to a rough start in the game, allowing the first goal at 2:14 of the first period. Les Patriotes scored on a breakaway by Vincent Chapleau.

Les Patriotes took the first penalty of the game about 8 minutes in, giving the Mustangs power play a chance to answer. The opportunity was unsuccessful, despite a few quality opportunities.

Western would take the next penalty, with Kyle Pettit being sent off for a high-sticking infraction. The Western defence and goaltender Luke Peressini shut the door with a successful kill, but seconds after the penalty ended Les Patriotes built on their lead. A wrist-shot from the high slot found its way through to give UQTR a two-goal lead.

The second period began with Western needing some offence. They got it early in the frame as the Mustangs put home their first goal of the 2019-20 campaign. Franco Sproviero registered his first career OUA goal on a one-timer from the faceoff dot, Sproviero spent parts of five seasons with the Sarnia Sting prior to arriving at Western this season.

After the game, Sproverio spoke about what it meant to score his first OUA goal, saying "It's hard to separate individual accomplishments from team accomplishments. It was great to score my first goal, but really you just want the win."

About 7 minutes into the period, The Mustangs faced a tough situation when a pair of penalties put them at two-man disadvantage. The Purple-and-White penalty kill put on a clinic as they blocked shots, cleared the defensive zone and ultimately killed the 5-on-3 opportunity.

The successful kill seemed to build momentum, as Western would tie the game shortly after. At 10:18 of the second period, the Mustangs drew even on a goal by Kenny Heuther, Rylan Becthel earned the assist on the goal.

The Mustangs went back on the penalty kill early in the third period, but a tripping call to Les Patriotes evened it up for the teams to play 4-on-4. The extra space provided ample opportunity, but no scoring.

With about 10 minutes remaining, another Patriotes penalty gave Western the opportunity to take the lead. The opportunity was once again fruitless as both teams remained perfect on the penalty kill.

This did not remain that way for long, as Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières scored a powerplay goal at to take the lead late in the third frame.

The goal resulted in a rush of offence as Western answered just moments later, only to see Les Patriotes take the lead right back at 15:23 of the third period. At 17:37 Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières scored a dagger of a goal that put them up by two goals with just minutes to play.

The lead proved to be insurmountable, as Les Patriotes scored an empty-net goal and the Mustangs fell 6-to-3.

"I think we dug in a number of times. We were down 2-0 and showed our character, and bounced back there in the second" said Mustangs Head Coach Clark Singer "On the negative side, some of the details. Too many odd man rushes. They're a really good hockey team… We get them again tomorrow, and hopefully we learned a little from tonight."

The Mustangs will return to action at Thompson arena for the rematch with UQTR tomorrow at 4:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased at westernmustangs.ca