London, ON - The Mustangs season came to an end in heart breaking up and down shootout loss against the Waterloo Warriors at home tonight.
Western came out firing on all fronts and were able to get on the board early. In the 12th minute, Western was able to get a corner kick. Captain Patrick Melo took the kick, landing it in the box for Western players to get one in, and off a rebound second-year Charlie Bontis was able to put one in. This gave the Mustangs lots of momentum and energy to carry through the first half.
25 minutes into the first, Western was awarded a free kick. The kick got cleared to the side and was crossed back to the middle by defenseman Aidan Bauer Marr. Charlie headed the ball which was a perfect pass to Daniel Oshana to pound it into the back of the net making it 2-0 Mustangs. This gave Western more energy and the confidence to lock down the game and come out of the first half up two goals.
The second half would bring uncertainty and adversity. In the 69th minute, Western goaltender Dino Bontis ran out of the box and slid at a Waterloo forward barreling down the field to challenge him, resulting in the striker falling. Dino was given a red card and Waterloo was awarded a penalty shot. Waterloo's Guerrieri was successful in the penalty kick, making it a one goal game. Also, to make matters worse, Western now had 1 less player on the field.
7 minutes later, Waterloo was able to take advantage of the Mustang's being down a man and notch another goal to tie the game with 20 minutes left. Waterloo continued to come on and challenge Western's defense, but regulation ended at a 2-2 tie. The game headed to overtime.
Overtime brought more adversity for Western. Already one player down, Waterloo came out strong, putting Western on their heels with some chances. 10 minutes into the first Overtime half, Waterloo was able to capitalize on one of their chances, taking the first lead of the game. Two minutes later, Western's Sokol Qamili was given a red card for taking down a Waterloo striker, meaning Western was down two men for the remaining 2 minutes and second half of overtime.
Western's 9 players came out firing for the second overtime half, pushing forward and trying to put anything on net. There were times where even goaltender Sam Spoelstra was pulled up into the play to give Western more bodies.
With 2 minutes remaining in the second overtime half, the Waterloo goaltender bobbled a touch on the ball and Charlie Bontis was able to take advantage and score his second of the game, tying the game. The overtime ended 3-3 and the game headed into penalty shots.
Penalty shots are always a hard way to end a game. Western was only able to score on 4 of the 5 shots and Waterloo scored all 5, securing the hard sought after win. Western fought hard and battled the adversity despite coming up short in the end.
Western's captain Melo said "It was definitely a roller coaster of emotions throughout this one. It's a lot to go through in a single game, but I'm so proud of this group of guys for fighting through that together for the full 120 minutes and into the penalty shootout."
"It was an exciting game," said Head Coach Martin Painter. "Going down a couple players, it's not easy playing 9 against 11. I'm so proud of the effort, attitude and character from the guys. The bounces didn't go our way, but we're walking off the field with our heads held high."
