London, ON- Mustangs faced the Lakehead Thunderwolves in an afternoon game to end off the double header. Although Western fought to maintain a lead throughout the third, Lakehead was able to tie the game and take the win in overtime, in a very dramatic fashion.
The Mustangs came out with a strong start after a hard fought loss against the Thunderwolves last night. Early on in the first, Mustangs were able to kill off a penalty, building off that momentum to generate offensive pressure.
Fifteen minutes into the first, Jack Tucker took a pass on the fly from Drew Wawrow and quickly moved it to Reed Morison to send him in on a breakaway to score the first of the game. This put the Mustangs up 1-0 giving them a lead into the break.
The second period brought lots of excitement, with Lakehead beginning on the powerplay. Starting right off the bat, two minutes into the second, Lakehead was able to tie it off a deflected shot from the point.
Lakehead didn't waste any time, with only a minute later, Lakehead's Griffen Fox breaking away from a Western defender and came down on Myskiw, making a deke to his backhand and scoring. This gave Lakehead the lead only two and a half minutes into the second.
Western fought some adversity early in the second with a disallowed goal, but they weren't going without a fight. Only two minutes later, Jake Gravelle rose to the occasion scoring shorthanded from a pass from Eric Van Impe to tie the game, to bring life back into Western's play.
Just two minutes later, Gravelle picked off a pass, sliding it to Riley Macrae who was circling around the crease, and was able to beat Lakehead goalie, putting Western up 3-2. Despite Lakehead getting one back a two minutes later, Western wasn't finished.
On the powerplay, Western had offensive zone puck movement. Reed Morison had the puck at the point and with a hard pass towards Sean Montgomery, he was able to deflect it in from the side of the net, getting his 10th of the year to take the lead once again.
The third period was hard fought from both sides, with Western fighting to keep their lead. Lakehead pulled their goalie in a last attempt to score, and after almost making it through a scoreless twenty minutes, Lakehead was able to jam in a loose puck with only 16 seconds remaining. The game would need more time to be decided.
The overtime was close fought, with 3-on-3 bringing rise to a few close opportunities for both sides. Following suit, Lakehead in a last attempt to score, netted it with only 1 second remaining to win the game 5-4, in a dramatic fashion yet again.
This game caps off the Mustangs games for 2023. Their first game back in the new year is January 5th on the road against TMU at 6pm.
