LONDON, Ont. - Fourth-year winger Spenser Cobbold netted the game-winning overtime goal to lift the Western men's hockey team to a 3-2 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks and a 1-0 lead in the first round of the OUA playoffs.
With the win, the Mustangs will now prepare for a quick turnaround with a road trip to Waterloo tomorrow for the second game of the series.

"A goal like that has to be one of the most memorable of my career," said Cobbold. "To be able to close out the game felt great, but we have some improvements to make before our next matchup. We have to simplify our game a bit more, get pucks deep, and we're getting in trouble with turnovers at the blue line, but if we can clean that up, we'll be in good shape."

Fifth-year Trevor Warnaar and fourth-year Ray Huether also helped lift the Mustangs passed their rivals, scoring a goal each in the third period to keep Western's offence afloat. Western goalie Luke Peressini had a stellar game as well for the purple and white, securing 23 saves to carry the Mustangs.

"Obviously we have to give credit to Laurier, they came out hard and they played us really physically," said Huether. "We ended up getting some of the bounces tonight and it ended up making the difference for us."

"Luke [Peressini]'s been our most valuable player throughout the season and he did a great job for us again tonight," said Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer. "But it's one game. We need these types of performances from him every night because this is a very tough team we're playing."

While the playoff fervour was evident from both teams to begin the first period, it was the Mustangs who controlled the puck early in the frame to pressure Golden Hawks' goalie Olivier Lafreniere. However, Western seemed unable to match Laurier's physicality throughout the period, as the Golden Hawks shifted momentum midway through the period behind a string of odd-man rushes. Both teams would earn themselves a powerplay before the end of the period, but impressive performances from both goalies would leave the game knotted at 0-0 heading into the second.

Laurier ramped up the pressure early in the second period, as Peressini was forced to make a number of glove saves in the opening minutes to keep the game scoreless. The Mustangs eventually regained control of the game after killing yet another powerplay midway through the frame, as they continued to pepper Lafreniere, but the Golden Hawks' defence continued to be a brick wall until the horn as the game remained locked at 0-0 heading into the final period of play. However, a tripping penalty in the final seconds of the frame would force the purple and white to kill off yet another powerplay to begin the third.

But despite beginning the frame on the penalty kill, it would be the Mustangs who finally struck first, as Warnaar found the back of the net after a number of deflections off of Lafreniere to give the purple and white the 1-0 lead midway through the frame.
But Western found their lead to be short-lived, as the penalties finally caught up with the purple and white, resulting in a Laurier powerplay goal to tie the game back up a 1-1 apiece just minutes later. Both teams seemed to ramp up the pressure following the goal, but it would be the purple and white who would retake the lead, as Huether collected the puck following a wild bounce off the boards and found the back of the net to put Western back up 2-1 with minutes remaining.

Laurier was forced to pull their goalie soon after with just over a minute left in the game and their gamble was soon rewarded spectacularly with a goal from Kalob Witzell to tie the game at two goals apiece with a little over a minute left in the game. The intensity ramped up to an all-time high in the final seconds of regulation, as Laurier was given a five minute major for rushing the goalie as both teams prepared for overtime.

The major proved to be the difference-maker early in the overtime period, as the Mustangs scored just minutes into the period behind Cobbold's slapshot, escaping with the 3-2 victory in extra time.

"We've struggled on the powerplay all year, so when you get a big opportunity in overtime to have the man advantage, you really have to bury down and make sure you execute," said Huether. "In OUA hockey, it's a short series, so we can't take our lead for granted. They'll be playing as hard as they can, they're life's on the line, so we have to regroup and come out with that same desperation."

"Laurier did a great job against us during the regular season in taking three out of the four games, so while getting that redemption is nice, getting a playoff series lead is more important," said Singer. "It's such a short series, so it's important to take the first game. We've done a lot of preparation throughout the week, so we feel ready to head back out tomorrow."

The Mustangs will be back in action tomorrow, February 15, where they will they will travel to Waterloo for the second game of the series. The teams are scheduled to face off at 7:00 P.M. EST and fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv.