London, ON - After a long week off from game play, the lights turned on again Wednesday night at Mustangs Field as the women's soccer team took the pitch to face off against a speedy second place Laurier.
The Golden Hawks pressed early on in the first half, forcing the Mustangs to remain in their own end and defend. The teams exchanged chances, but it was Laurier who capitalized on a cross into the box to open up the scoring right before the whistle rang for half-time.
"I thought we were tentative for the opening half," said head coach Martin Painter. "It was unfortunate to give a goal away right at the end."
The purple and white did not let the deficit deflate them, but rather entered the second half with newfound energy.
Western pressed high up in the second half, keeping play in the offensive zone and forcing good saves out of the Laurier keeper.
"We had to play a goal down in the second half," said Painter. "I thought we responded well and put them under a lot of pressure."
Despite their efforts, Western had nothing to show for it as the ninety minutes approached. Drama ensued as Western hit the post, the crossbar, and then looked to have tapped one in over the goal line, but it was not given by the referee.
Rather than getting frustrated, Western used the momentum to keep fighting for a tying goal.
"We saw that they were starting to fall apart," said Reese Fowler. "We just had to keep taking shots."
And it worked. The supporter's bench and sidelines erupted as Fowler placed the ball into the top right corner in the final play of the game, rewarding Western for their tenacity and effort late on.
"I saw the ball, I saw the net, and just kicked it and hoped for the best," said Fowler. "We had a lot of close chances at the end and it was nice to finally finish it and put one in the net."
"It's a collective effort," added Painter. "A couple people start winning battles, start building confidence, start talking a little bit more and the intensity got higher."
The Mustangs look to carry the energy from tonight's game into Sunday as they head to Waterloo to face Laurier. Kick-off is at 1pm.
