Halifax, NS – The Mustangs run of incredible post-season hockey continued on Thursday afternoon with a 3-2 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies in the U SPORTS University Cup Quarterfinal.
"Saskatchewan were the Canada West Champions, 23 & 1 in their last 24 games. We knew we were going to need a great game to beat them today and I thought our guys really responded," said Mustangs Head Coach Clarke Singer "Luke (Peressini) did a great job in net for us today as he has all year, so it's a great win."
After an initial back and forth in the 1st period, Western would breakthrough late in the frame, on the powerplay the puck ended up in a flurry around the net and Reed Morison would pick it up and bury the puck to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead with just over 3 minutes remaining in the period.
After the Huskies tied the game early in the 2nd period, the Mustangs bench stayed energetic and kept pushing. Even down a man on the penalty kill, the Western push didn't ease up as Cordell James would pick the puck off at center ice and move into the Saskatchewan end on a 2 on 1 with Anthony Stefano and after a Stefano feedback to James In front of the net, he found the five-hole on Saskatchewan's Taran Kozun and regained the lead at 2-1.
"Every goal is big right now but you likely aren't thinking one will come shorthanded," said Singer "Huge goal by Cordell, He's scored some big ones in the playoffs for us and it's not just the goal itself, it's the momentum that it provides that was big today."
The momentum definitely seemed to work as less than a minute later the Mustangs would strike again. Ethan Szypula skated the puck along the wing and then fed a pass to Stephen Desrocher on the back end who drilled a one-timer through traffic and in to give the Mustangs a two-goal lead heading into the intermission.
"I saw Szypula coming down the wing and saw some space so I was calling for it as loud as I could," said Desrocher "There was definitely some skates in front so I was just hoping to get it through or at least bounce it off someone and I was just glad to see it go in."
Saskatchewan would end up pulling their goalie late in the 3rd period and were able to score with less than a minute remaining but Western would lock down the rest of the time on the clock and pick up a huge win to move on to the semi-finals.
Luke Peressini made 26 saves in the win and was named the Mustangs player of the Game.
The Mustangs next game will be Saturday at 2:00 pm ADT (1:00 pm London time) against the Saint Mary's Huskies. Fans can watch the action for free on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem & the CBC Sports app.
