Elmira, ON – The Mustangs Ringette team was busy over the holiday break as they played in the annual University Challenge Cup in Elmira.

Western played nine games over the five-day tournament.

Day one started with a pair of big wins for the Mustangs as they picked up a 4-1 win over Laurier and a 7-2 win over Laurentian. Rookie Julian Roman had 5 goals on day one and the goaltending duo of Kessa Dunlop and Anna Kornmuller had impressive performances only allowing three goals on the day.

Day two was a tough one for the Mustangs as they fell 4-3 to McMaster and 8-2 to Lethbridge. The tournament was re-seeded after the second day and the Mustangs finished 2nd in the round-robin and were placed in pool A.

Day three saw the Mustangs split their games with a 5-3 win over Waterloo but drop a 6-1 loss to the Brock Badgers.

Day four would decide if the Western would be playing for a medal on the final day of the tournament and they came out with a pair of big wins. They started the morning with a 6-5 win over Guelph and followed that up with a 9-4 win over Nipissing. With the wins they advanced to the bronze medal game in the top tier of the tournament, finishing third in their division.

On the final day of the tournament, the Mustangs met Guelph, a day after a hard-fought win. This one was everything you would expect and more as three periods weren't enough to decide a winner, nor was two overtime periods. Five shootout rounds were needed to decide a winner but on this day it was the Gryphons who came out on top with a 6-5 final.

"The team gave their all to this tournament and are headed home with their heads held high," said Head Coach Ellen McClure "4th out of 15 teams from all across Canada is an amazing achievement and we can't wait to see what the rest of the season has in store.

Western now looks forward to hosting Ringette Day 2020 on Sunday, January 12 at Thomson Arena when they host the Laurier Golden Hawks. The event is aimed at promoting ringette in the community and will host several events around the rink at Thompson Arena.

Game time is 3:30 but doors will open at 1:00 pm for all to attend. Full details can be found at https://www.facebook.com/events/966835203674098/