LONDON, ON – The Mustangs brought their regular season to a close Friday night, with a loss to the defending OUA Champion Guelph Gryphons. 
 
The Mustangs opened the game with possession and started fighting hard to get down the field. However, a quick turnover gave Guelph possession of the ball, and they powered down the field to score the game's first try. 

Western didn't let this rattle them, as they continued to fight hard throughout the match with a powerful effort on offense. Several great plays were made, with the Mustangs absolutely storming through the Gryphons' defense wherever possible. 

Several minutes after scoring their first points of the game, Guelph scored another try and successful conversion, bringing the score up to 0-12 ten minutes into the first half. Not long after this, Mustang Jenna Lawrence brought the team their first and only points for the match with a penalty goal, upping the score to 03-12. 

The Mustangs did a great job of holding Guelph back for the rest of the first half, ensuring they kept the margin as close as possible to end the first 40 minutes. Unfortunately, the Gryphons were taking advantage of the slightest gaps in the Mustangs' defense, which allowed them to break through and power down the field twice more in the first half, bringing the score up to 03-29 in Guelph's favor. 

"Obviously, it's not the scoreline that we wanted, but the scoreline doesn't reflect the effort of the team," said Mustangs Head Coach Josh Campbell. "We need to be better at reacting to turnover ball situations," he continued. 

The remaining 40 minutes of the game were fought through freezing winds and rain, but the Mustangs were still playing their game and doing what they could to hold off the Gryphons. Unfortunately, Guelph slipped through the Mustangs' defense again, absolutely sprinting down the field with Western struggling to keep hold, allowing the Gryphons to score again 2 minutes into the half. 

No matter what, Western kept resetting and fighting just as hard as the previous play, not letting the score line change their game. "I think we learned how hard we can work and how badly we want it," said Mustangs Captain Cailyn McKay, "we set a new bar for ourselves, and we are going to do so much better coming out of this." 

Western was fighting hard right into the match's final minutes, even with the widening deficit on the scoreboard. Guelph was unrelenting and was right up on the Mustangs, not giving them any space and completely shutting them down, despite the unrelenting effort from Western. "I'm really proud of the effort that the girls put in. They didn't quit for all 80 minutes," said Campbell. 

Despite the team's efforts, Guelph continued pulling ahead, ending the match at 69-03. 


The Mustangs were able to clinch a playoff spot with last week's dominant win over Waterloo, and so they will return in the post-season, ready to see how far they can power through toward the OUA Championship.