LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs were steamrolled on the game sheet after losing 5-1 to the Lakehead Thunderwolves in the second game of their weekend doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Thompson Arena.
 
This afternoon's matchup wouldn't change anything for Western in the standings after their win against the Thunderwolves last night secured them a third place position entering playoffs. As for Lakehead, they lost any chance at making the playoffs with their loss last night, but they would come to battle nonetheless. 
 
"I think it's tough for probably both teams, not a lot on the line," said Mustangs' head coach Clarke Singer. "You know Lakehead maybe a little, having some pride finishing off the year and probably for their seniors too."
 
Before puck drop, the coaches of the Western Mustangs hockey team honoured the senior players in what would be their last regular season game of 2018/2019. Ray Huether, Trent Ouellette, Spenser Cobbold, Trevor Warnaar, and Jonathan Laser were all commemorated for their multiple years of contributions to the Mustangs' hockey program. 
 
"It's always nice to get recognized," said Warnaar. "I mean, I've been here a while, so it was really cool to celebrate that last home regular season game in our building."
 
Western's lone goal was scored by Alex Di Carlo. Lakehead's goals were evenly distributed across the team, with Jordan King, Austin McDonald, Dillon Donnelly, Matt Alexander, and Sam Schutt all putting up one goal each. 
 
In the essentially meaningless game, the Mustangs' coaching staff made the decision to sit goaltender Luke Peressini for the game and give David Ovsjannikov the start. 
 
The Thunderwolves put pressure on the Mustangs early in the game and didn't wait long to test out Ovsjannikov's skill. At 14:20, King, a Lakehead forward, came down the wing and rang the puck off the post and into the back of the net. Daniel Del Paggio was credited with the assist. 
 
Western failed to generate much of any offense during the first twenty minutes, and the home team was outshot 8-3. 
 
Lakehead came out flying once again at the start of the second period, putting Western down another goal. At 6:07, the Mustangs turned the puck over at the offensive zone blue line, which sent McDonald flying down the wing on a breakaway. The Thunderwolf forward made a move on Ovsjannikov and roofed a backhand right under the crossbar, making the score 2-0. 

At 13:22, Lakehead extended their lead to three with a power play insurance marker. Donelly's shot from the point found its way through traffic and into the back of the net, hitting some iron along the way. 
 
The teams finished the second period with three goals for Lakehead, and none for Western. 
 
The Thunderwolves continued their scoring streak in the third period when Alexander dangled his way through three Western players on the power play before putting it through Ovsjannikov's five-hole and into the back of the net. 
 
Just when it was looking like the Thunderwolves' goalie Devin Green would get the shutout, Western stole the Lakehead goaltender's glory with 3:39 to go in the final frame. Di Carlo skated through the entire Thunderwolves team before the defenseman fired the puck through Green and into the back of the net.
 
"I just saw some space, and figured honestly there's three minutes left in the game, try to make something happen. So I just went, some more space opened up, just put it on net and got lucky that it went in," said Di Carlo. 
 
Lakehead would have the last word, however, scoring another power play goal with 1:49 to go after a deflection in the slot from Schutt found its way past Ovsjannikov. This put the Thunderwolves at a 75% success rate on their power plays for the night. 
 
When the final buzzer went, the score read 5-1 for Lakehead.
 
"I don't think the scoreboard was indicative of the scoring chances or the gameplay, but there are no concerns," said Singer. "We have had a pretty good second half, we're in a good spot. I've liked how our power play has been trending, though we didn't score tonight on the two we had, I thought we had some good opportunities and yeah, we are in a good spot. We are looking forward to Thursday."

The Mustangs will return for home ice advantage in their first game of playoffs on Thursday, February 14 at 7:00pm. Their opponent is yet to be decided. Fans can catch all the action live, at OUA.tv.