LONDON, Ont. – A third period goal from Kyle Pettit lifted the Western Mustangs to a 4-3 win over the Guelph Gryphons after a second period arms race Thursday night at Thompson Arena. 
 
"You're going to have little valleys in the game and it's how you rebound from those valleys and try to make them as short as possible that are going to help you move forward," said Mustangs' head coach Clarke Singer. "I thought we did that tonight, three different times when they got the lead and obviously in the third period. As the period wore on I thought we got a little bit better, and then obviously we got the game winning goal from Kyle to seal it."
 
Tonight's match-up was the first game of the OUA West Conference Finals, where Western would be ready to take the first win against Guelph, who had momentum after upsetting the first place Ryerson Rams in the conference semi-finals. 
 
Western's goals were contributed by Mitchell Fitzmorris, Cordell James, and Mitchell Brooks, with the game winning goal being scored by Pettit. Guelph's goals were provided by Justin Lemcke, Andres Kopstals, and Mikkel Aagaard. 
 
Both teams came flying out of the gate ready to play, each with just as many offensive chances as the other in the first frame. 
 
"I think how we came out is exactly how we want to play and exactly what we are capable of doing. We came out and played a north/south physical game and that got us off to a good start," said Brooks. 
 
The first penalty of the night went to Matt Timms of the Gryphons, giving the Mustangs a power play opportunity with four and a half minutes left in the first. Although unable to generate a goal with the extra man, the Mustangs were granted another power play, which was then matched when the Mustangs' captain Jonathan Laser was caught holding a Guelph players stick.  
 
Western goaltender Luke Peressini and Guelph netminder Andrew Masters were there to shut the door on every chance in the first frame. Shots were 13-7 for the Mustangs. 
 
"I thought the first period was one of our best games of the year," said Singer. "I thought our forecheck was outstanding. I thought we had a number of good scoring chances. I think we could have had it 5-1 after the scoring chances and we weren't rewarded obviously with a 0-0 score after one." 
 
Just two minutes into the second period, Western had another power play opportunity. They were unable to generate any offence, turning the puck over at the blue line and getting every shot from the point blocked. 
 
Right after the power play ended at 4:16, Guelph was given a good scoring chance with a man-advantage. They capitalized on this opportunity when Lemcke netted the puck after a scramble in the crease. Seth Swenson and Cody Thompson were credited for the assists. 
 
Five minutes later, Kenny Huether rang one off the post and the puck popped out at the perfect angle for Fitzmorris to finish the play. At 11:19, the teams were tied 1-1. 
 
"It was great to be back in the lineup and to be able to contribute is always a blessing," said Fitzmorris, who had just returned from a two-game suspension. "It was a good shot by Kenny, he's got a great shot and he lets it go. So I was just kind of tracking it good and was able to get a stick down and bang it home."
 
Guelph would wait no more than 30 seconds to regain their lead after the puck was deflected onto the stick of Kopstals and into the back of the Mustangs' net after a four on two.
 
Western responded not even a minute later, when James found the back of the net after an odd-man rush caused some commotion in front of Masters. 
 
With one minute left in the second period, Guelph's Aagaard took a shot from the point and found the net above the shoulder of Peressini, making the score 3-2. 
 
Western refused to end the second period down a goal and answered once again just 30 seconds later with a goal from Brooks, who scooped the puck up in the slot and was able to finish on Masters. Kolten Olynek and Trent Ouellette were each given a point on the play. 
 
After a period of playing catch-up to the Gryphons, the Mustangs ended the second period with a score of 3-3. 

"We got away from some of those little things we have been doing in playoffs – getting pucks in deep, making sure we had a high guy on our forecheck," said Singer. "They were very opportunistic, and they scored a couple power play goals, but credit to our guys for bouncing back, you know, a couple of them were less than a minute after they had scored we came back to tie it."
 
After it seemed as though the game would be going into overtime, the Guelph goaltender made a fatal mistake laying out Brooks' rebound perfectly for Pettit with about five minutes left in the third, making it 4-3 Mustangs. 
 
"I kind of came on early from a shift and just sat in front and waited for the puck and luckily it came to me," said Pettit. "I didn't really aim it, I just shot it as hard as I could and luckily it found a hole and went in."
 
This goal would end up being the game-winner for the Mustangs, sending them into the second game of the conference finals up 1-0. They are now looking ahead to Saturday, where they have an opportunity to sweep Guelph and snag a ticket to Nationals. 
 
"The guys again worked hard, they were resilient, and it was a good team effort overall to win the first one," said Singer.
 
"We have to have a good start," said Brooks. "Right now, that's all we can worry about. Just piece by piece, minute by minute, we're going to keep applying the same game plan, and if we do that, even that doesn't guarantee your chances of winning, that just gives us our best chance and that's what we're going for."
 
The Mustangs will take on the Gryphons for game two of the series on Saturday, March 2 at 7:30 pm in Guelph. Fans can catch all the action live, at OUA.tv.