Toronto, ON – The Mustangs dropped a heartbreaker in overtime to the Ryerson Rams on Saturday night.

The Rams opened the scoring on the night on a Hayden McCool marker near the midway point of the game for his ninth of the year.

The Mustangs would respond on the penalty kill with a Cordell James short-handed goal at 14:24 of the 1^st period to tie the game at 1-1.

Western wasn't done though, as Ethan Szypula would get the Mustangs their first lead of the game with under a minute to go. Franco Sproviero & Stephen Desrocher would get the assists. Western took a 2-1 lead into the intermission.
 
After Ryerson tied the game, Cordell James would net his second of the night just over 30 seconds later with assists from Szypula and Sproviero to regain the lead at 3-2.

The Rams wouldn't back down and scored before the end of the 2^nd period and tie the game at 3-3 going to the locker rooms.

Ryerson would open the scoring in the 3^rd period at the 7:10 mark on the powerplay and the Mustangs would respond in kind. Franco Sproviero would net a pair of goals after that, the first coming on the man advantage right at the 10:00 minute mark of the period for his fourth of the season. Sproviero would then give the Mustangs the lead at the 16:49 mark, assists going to Szypula and James.
 
The Rams pulled their goalie for the extra attacker with just over a minute left and it would work out for them. Matt Mistele would find the puck just outside the blue paint and tie the game up at 5-5.

Western thought they had responded in the last thirty seconds when they put the puck past Ryerson goaltender Garrett Forest but the referee waved it off saying the puck was knocked out of the air with a high stick and that sent the game to overtime.
 
In the extra frame, Stephen Desrocher was called for slashing on a Ryerson breakaway, so the Rams went to a 4 on 3 man advantage. The extra man would convert again for Ryerson, after the Mustangs couldn't clear the zone the Rams would get the puck down low and McCool would finish it off for the game winner.

Luke Peresinni would make 33 saves for the Mustangs in the loss.

Western enters the holiday break with a 5-7-3 record on the season. Their next game is set for January 3^rd at Thompson Arena when they take on the Waterloo Warriors. Puck drop is set for 7:00pm and fans can get their tickets at westernmustangs.ca/tickets.