London, ON – After losing their first game of the season to Guelph earlier in the week, the Mustangs returned to Thompson Arena Saturday night for a rematch that would see them fall 2-0 on home ice.
 
"We haven't been in this building playing in over a year," said defenceman Sarah Irwin. "Everyone was definitely a bit nervous and excited, but it was good to have fans back." 
 
The Mustangs were held to their zone to start the game, ultimately leading to them taking a hooking penalty within the opening 2 minutes. The penalty kill was put to work and held off a persistent Gryphons unit.
 
"We watched some video from the first game," said Irwin. "We got to go out there knowing our jobs and knowing what we had to do." 
 
The purple and white would get their chance on the powerplay just over 8 minutes in as Guelph was penalized for body checking. However, with 29 seconds left with the man advantage, Western would take yet another penalty and see the remainder of their powerplay be played four-on-four. While the powerplay was unable to find the back of the net, the subsequent penalty kill did their job and kept Guelph from opening the scoring and was complimented with some good saves by goaltender Kaitlyn Booth.
 
After the penalty kill, it was Western's turn to generate some offensive chances. Western gained sustained time in the offensive zone, yet still could not get past the Guelph netminder.
 
With less than 1 second on the clock remaining, Western would take another penalty, this time for bodychecking, which would see them start the second period on the penalty kill once again.
 
The Mustangs were able to kill off a Guelph powerplay yet again and rode the momentum at the start of the period. Despite not resulting in a goal, the momentum would be rewarded as the Mustangs were able to draw a penalty just under 5 minutes into the period. Western was not able to find a breakthrough on the powerplay, as Guelph started to build confidence and pile on the shots.
 
"We knew that Guelph was going to throw out an aggressive penalty kill at us and we still weren't ready and willing enough to move the puck quick enough to be able to capitalize," said head coach Candice Moxley. "We're fine tuning and switching personnel around and seeing who can execute at that pace and at that rate so it's going to be an ongoing mission for us."
 
A faceoff in the neutral zone allowed the Gryphons to gain possession and travel up the ice, creating space for a Guelph forward to show off her stickhandling and slot one past Booth to open the scoring just over 10 minutes into the frame.
 
Only minutes later were the purple and white sent to the powerplay yet again, however it was Guelph who created a few shorthanded chances that forced some saves out of Western. Similarly to how the recent game against the Gryphons helped the Western penalty kill, it also helped Guelph's.
 
"They knew how to play us," said Irwin. "They were on us hard."
 
Guelph continued to dominate the remainder of the period and had a breakaway with 3 minutes remaining that required Booth to make a big save, eliciting passionate cheers from the home crowd.
 
"We had a goaltender that stood up tonight and kept us in the game for as long as she did," said Moxley.
 
The Gryphons started the third right where they left off, and only needed 4:06 to double their lead.
Western continued to struggle offensively and didn't register a shot until 12 minuets in. With less than 2 minutes to go, Western pulled their goalie for the extra attacker yet still couldn't claw their way back, ultimately suffering another loss to Guelph.
 
"I don't think we showcased what we can actually do tonight," said Moxley. "We got away from our game plan pretty early on."
 
"They're big and they put a body on you as soon as you get the puck," added centre Brooke DiCicco. "They were first to pucks tonight, so it made it hard for us to get some momentum going."
 
The Mustangs have 12 days off until they compete on ice again, leaving ample time for adjustments to be made.
 
"Next week we're probably going to have a super high compete week, get our legs going, get back into things and make sure we're ready to compete next time," concluded DiCicco.  
 
The Mustangs will return to game action on November 19^th against Brock. Puck-drop is at 7pm at Thompson Arena. The game can also be found live on OUA.tv