London, ON - For the first time in almost 2 years, the ball was dropped at Mustangs Field as the Western women's soccer team took home 3 points in a 4-2 win against the Brock Badgers.
Western started the first half strong and maintained the majority of possession but couldn't capitalize on any chances in the final third.
Brock took advantage of their first shot on goal and opened the scoring in the 27th minute. The two teams exchanged a few chances before heading into halftime with Brock leading 1-0.
The second half brought a lot more action.
Brock started the half right where they left off, but Western's strong defensive play kept their deficit to one. In the 58th minute, Western's Nathalie Hoppe capitalized on the goalkeeper's kick into open play, being first to the ball and tapping it in for the equalizer.
Less than 5 minutes later, Brock responded to reclaim the lead. An initial double save by the goalie was then whistled down as a goal, with the initial shot having crossed the line.
A Medina Birani free kick that deflected off a Brock player for an own goal evened it up and set Western out on the front foot. The purple and white continued to apply pressure and kept the play in the offensive zone. A win was still in sight.
The winner came in the 88th minute courtesy of veteran Kiera Grein, who beat her defender and then the goalie after a bouncing ball hit them both.
"I blacked out," said Grein. "It was just the keeper and I was like 'I am just going to throw my body into this keeper' and then I heard cheering."
A sweetener was added two minutes later, when Natalie Abbate cleaned up a shot off the crossbar.
"They made us work for everything and I am really proud of the team for finding a way to win. It was a super tough game," said Mustangs head coach Martin Painter. "It would have been easy to put our heads down and I thought as a group the players came back and fought hard and showed some resilience and character. It's a massive three points."
The Mustangs head to St. Catharines this Sunday for an afternoon rematch against the Badgers. Kick-off is at 1pm.
