London, ON – The Mustangs played host to the Waterloo Warriors Saturday afternoon at Western Alumni Stadium for their last home game of the regular season, with a three-goal first half leading the 'Stangs to a 3-2 win.
 
The men kicked things off at 2pm Saturday afternoon at Western Alumni Stadium following a Celebration of Life for Rocco "Rock" Basacco, a former player and pivotal builder of the soccer program at Western during his coaching years from 1995-2016.
 
"It was a big day for our program. I thought it was great to be able to do something to honour Rock," said head coach Martin Painter. "We had good turnout from our Alumni and good atmosphere and it's certainly a big win. Overall a really special day."
 
Patrick Melo had two assists in the match, with Charlie Bontis, Mahmoud Alquhwaji and Jamu Iluya getting the goals. With the win the purple and white clinch a playoff berth and improve to 6-2-2 on the season while the Warriors drop to 2-5-2.
 
Tensions were high early on with the wind rifling through the air, but it was the Warriors who got on the board first with a tap in 10 minutes into the game.
 
Jamu Iluya created a chance for Western soon after, but Charlie Bontis couldn't get a touch on it. Owura Boateng almost converted a Patrick Melo corner kick, but again the purple and white remained in search for their opener.
 
Their effort was rewarded in the 19^th minute as Charlie Bontis curled it from outside the box into the top left corner in spectacular fashion, leaving the crowd in awe and eliciting a huge celebration from his teammates.
 
"This week in training it was one of those weeks where the ball was just finding the back of the net so it was excellent for that to happen when it mattered in a game," said Bontis on his goal. "It was the top of the box, and it was on my weaker foot. I took the touch to my left, saw it was open and had a go, and it ended up going in. It was awesome."
 
"A moment of quality from Charlie," commented Painter on the goal. "I thought he had a really good game. He's very smart, and technically very good. That was a massive goal for us. It gave us belief and put us back in the game."
 
Three minutes later a one-two with Patrick Melo saw Mahmoud Alquhwaji grab his first of the game and put the Mustangs in front for the first time.
 
With just under six minutes remaining in the half, Melo added a second assist to his name as he crossed it to find Jamu Iluya who tapped it in with perfect placement for a 3-1 lead.
 
"We scored two more good ones in the first half and thought we had our best spell of the season," said Painter. "Unfortunately the second half we made the game a bit more interesting than it needed to be but we still held on." 
 
Despite the Mustangs controlling the majority of play and pressure to start the second half, it was Waterloo who grabbed their second of the match.
 
Desperate to find the equalizer, the visitors in yellow piled on the pressure late in the half, but the 'Stangs were able to hold on to secure the all-important victory.
 
"It's something we're still developing. That's the challenge of soccer," said Painter on his team holding onto the lead. "On the field you have to find a way to execute for 90 minutes. There's always going to be ups and downs, but we have to make sure there's less downs and make sure they're less pronounced."
 
"I think it was an awesome performance," added Bontis. "We went down early and came back, fought hard, and were 3-1 going into the half. They ended up scoring one to bring it back, making it even more intense for us, but we were able to finish it off and take the win at the end of the day."
 
The Mustangs will finish off the regular season on the road with two games remaining and lots still to play for.
 
"The good news is we've clinched a playoff spot after today so we've got two games to make sure we can be playing at home," said Painter. "It's still a challenge to finish in the top two to give ourselves a bye week. There's a lot to play for. I'm confident we can end the season well."
 
"Energy is there, but we have to keep working and keep going," concluded Bontis. "Everyone's excited, we have to finish the season as high as possible and get ready for the playoffs."
 
The Mustangs will return to action on the road against the Windsor Lancers on October 16^th. Kick-off is at 4:15pm.