London, ON – Thompson Arena played host to the Men's Hockey team for the first time in over 600 days late Friday night, as the Mustangs began their season with an exhilarating 4-3 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks.
The purple and white got off to a blazing start against the 1-0 Golden Hawks, and only needed 1:01 to find the back of the net. Defencemen Bailey Newton scored his first of the season with assists credited to Andrew Bruder and Michael Boushy.
Western continued to apply pressure and managed to play mostly in the offensive zone, keeping Laurier without a shot on goal until 6:57 of the period, which goaltender David Ovsjannikov handled with ease. The first ten minutes saw Western continue to clear the defensive zone and transition through the neutral zone with minimal difficulties.
The first taste of adversity came after Reed Morison was called for tripping and was sent to the penalty box, putting Laurier on the powerplay. Westerns penalty kill proved to be successful, limiting Laurier to only one shot.
Laurier found the equalizer due to a front net scramble only two minutes later, and kept the shots coming, but the Mustangs were able to hold on until the buzzer.
The second frame saw an instant flurry of action, as both teams set out to break the stalemate.
Veteran Kolten Olynek completed a cross-ice pass to Morison who perfectly placed his shot over the goalie and into the net, reclaiming the lead for Western at only 4:56 of the second.
"[Franco Sproviero] changed a little late and I decided to stay up in the play," said Olynek. "[Austin Osmanski] kind of threw it up the wall and me and Mo had a two on one, and I knew he'd bury [it] if I put it on his stick, so I just slid it over to him."
Laurier was soon sent to the powerplay for the second time but wouldn't let the man advantage go to waste this time. With less than a minute remaining with the extra man, Laurier shot the puck bardown to even it up once again for the Golden Hawks at 8:29.
It took only a minute for the Mustangs to light up the horn again, as Laurier was called for too many men therefore sending the Mustangs powerplay to work, which the team was then able to capitalize on through an Olynek goal.
Western's penalty kill would take centre stage once again, as a cross-checking call on Sean Montgomery would see Laurier finish the period a man up. Western finished two for three on the penalty kill, which Olynek credits to their speed and ability to pressure.
"All the guys that [penalty kill] really take pride in it and want to be at the top of the league in that category," said Olynek.
With 10 seconds remaining on the powerplay at the start of the third, Laurier controlled possession and attempted a stretch pass that was ultimately called for icing. This would be the extent of their offensive play for a while, as Western's tenacity rewarded them with lots of offensive zone time. Their hard work would pay off, as they drew a tripping call and would ultimately get a chance on the powerplay once again.
At 10:03 in the period, Osmanski sent a pass from the point to Stephen Desrocher in the left circle, who found Sean Montgomery for Western's fourth of the game, putting the Mustangs in control of the third period. Tonight's success on the powerplay was not by chance, but rather due to adjustments made to a struggling preseason unit.
"We were actually struggling a bit [with] the powerplay in the preseason, so it's nice that we got that going," said captain Desrocher. "We worked on it a bit this week, moved a couple guys around and were just trying to get pucks on net, play it simple, and do what we could to get a puck in the back of the net."
However, like they had proven all game long, the Golden Hawks were not going down without a fight. It took Laurier just over a minute to minimize their deficit to one, setting up an exciting finish to this game.
"Laurier is one of those sneaky teams, they always find a way to hang around," said Desrocher. "When we get up a goal, they're right on us so I think the message in the room was 'let's get the next one'."
That mantra of focusing on what's next is not new to the team, but rather something head coach Clarke Singer emphasizes both in the room and on the bench.
"We just always talk about next shift at a time," said Singer. "A game ebb and flows with the emotions, the score, the play and 'next shift', that's what we talk about, and the guys did a real nice job of that."
With just under 2 minutes to go, Laurier pulled their goalie for the extra attacker which allowed them sustained pressure in the offensive zone as they looked to force overtime. Ovsjannikov shut the door for the Mustangs and one final faceoff win saw the clock run out, solidifying Western's first win of the season.
"I really liked the effort, I liked the intensity we had," said Singer. "We obviously got lots of work to do but it's nice getting two points."
"I thought it was great," said Desrocher who finished the night with two points himself. "It's been over 600 days since we actually played a real game other than exhibitions, and half our team is all new guys, so we are still trying to gel with each other and build some chemistry. I thought for how long it's been and all the new players, we had a pretty solid game at home."
Western is back on the ice again tomorrow night as they travel to Windsor to take on the Lancers. Puck-drop is at 7:30pm and can be viewed on OUA.tv
