London, ON – Returning home in desperate need of a win to remain in the race for the postseason, the Mustangs bested the Warriors 2-1 in Saturdays 3:15pm matchup.
 
Sitting in third place in the West division with 9 points, the Mustangs needed all three points in today's fixture to keep their playoff hopes alive.
 
The purple and white opened the scoring in the 21st minute courtesy of Kyle Gibson as he cleared up the rebound off of a Jamu Iluya shot.
 
"I saw a lot of guys driving in forward into the box, so I felt like if I stalled a bit and waited for them to come inside then I could have more time to deliver a ball or even get a shot on net so the goalie could spill it," said Iluya. "And that's what happened."
 
Repaying the favour, Gibson sent an amazing through ball to Iluya who was then taken down inside the box and awarded a penalty. Iluya stepped up and converted, sending the Waterloo keeper to the left as he slotted the ball into the bottom right corner giving the Mustangs a 2-0 lead in the 34^th minute.
 
"I got tripped inside, so I had to stay composed because sometimes when you get hit you have a lot of things on your mind," said Iluya. "I made sure to stay calm and composed and tuck it into the back of the net."
 
After a dominant first half, Western found themselves up by 2.
 
"Excellent first half, best half we've played all year," said head coach Martin Painter. "We were really threatening going forward, our movement was really good, [we] created some good situations and had quite a few shots."
 
The rain cleared and the sun came out for the second half of play as Western set out to defend their first half lead.
 
The Warriors pushed back and made it hard for the Mustangs to maintain their dominance. Waterloo eventually pulled one back in the 68^th minute as they tapped in a goal to cut Westerns lead in half. Waterloo continued to press, but Western held on to claim all three points.
 
"In the second half Waterloo made it difficult for us and we got a little bit panicky," said Painter. "Credit to Waterloo they tested us and are an athletic team. At the end of the day, we got the job done. Massive three points."
 
With this win, the Mustangs sit in third place in the West division with 12 points and will need to collect points against Windsor next week to push for a spot in the playoffs.
 
"This game we stepped up to the task because we know what's at hand," said Iluya. "We have two more games to go against Windsor, so we have to stay locked in."
 
"We've been getting better all season long. I'm really happy with the way the boys have worked, and we got to continue to get better," said Painter. "Big game Wednesday and we are looking to win that."
 
The Mustangs will look to stay in the win column on Wednesday when they take on Windsor at home on Mustangs Field. Kick-off is at 7:15pm.