Box Score WATERLOO, Ont. – The Mustangs suffered a 5-2 loss against the last place Waterloo Warriors Friday night at Columbia Ice Fields.
 
Waterloo, sitting in a tie for last place with Lakehead, looked to steal two points from Western in an attempt to become playoff spot contenders. The Mustangs, seven points away from the second place Brock team, looked to lessen that gap with a win tonight. 
 
Waterloo's goals were contributed by Nick Chyzowski and Mike Moffat, with a hat trick from Nick Halagian. Western's goals were scored by Kyle Pettit and Trevor Warnaar.
 
Waterloo proved to be the better team in the opening period, getting on the goal sheet first. Michael Morgan sent a backhand to the net of Mustangs' goaltender Luke Peressini at 16:30. With a favourable bounce, the puck went off Chyzowski and into the back of the net.
 
The Mustangs were unable to respond to their one goal deficit in this first period, making the score 1-0 for the Warriors after 20 minutes of play.
 
Waterloo also had a strong second period start. An offensive zone face off win from Warriors' forward Cam Nicoll would send the puck straight to Halagian, who put the puck off the post and into the net behind Peressini.
 
The Mustangs, who have struggled all year on the power play, netted a power play goal with six minutes left in the second frame to make the score 2-1. Pettit would get recognition for the goal, after taking advantage of a rebound that the Waterloo goalie could not control.
 
The Mustangs were in reach of tying it up for a couple minutes, until Moffat, captain of the Warriors, saw open ice ahead of him while the teams were four on four. He drove hard to the net with the puck and found a hole on Peressini, granting Waterloo a two goal lead and ending the second period with a 3-1 score over the Mustangs.
 
The Mustangs did not waste any time after the start of the third period, scoring first in the final frame of play. Warnaar, skating down on his off wing, cut back into the middle causing a Warrior defender to trip up. The Mustang forward found the shooting lane, and got the puck over the blocker of Trevor Martin.
 
Just seven minutes later, Waterloo would extend their lead by two again when Halagian received a feed from Connor Cole in the corner, and put the puck bar down on Peressini. This was his second goal of the game.
 
His line would strike for the third time with six minutes to go, and Halagian earned himself a hat trick.
 
At the end of the third period, the score remained 5-2 for the Warriors.

With the win, Waterloo moves past Toronto and Lakehead in the standings with a record of 9-12-5-5. Western still sits just a few points ahead of York, but with a game in hand at 14-10-1-1.
 
The Mustangs will return to the ice at 7:00pm on Saturday, February 2 when they face the Laurier Golden Hawks in Waterloo. Fans can catch all the action live, at OUA.tv.