LONDON, ON – The Western Mustangs played hard through the rain to send the Waterloo Warriors home scoreless in the first round of the 2023 OUA Playoffs, defeating them 57-0.
 
The match kicked off with a strong start from Waterloo, who gave the Mustangs a fierce challenge right from the beginning of this first post-season match. 
 
Waterloo's defense was hitting hard, but Western continued to power down the pitch, hammering through to the try line, scoring the first try at 16:37 minutes into the game, courtesy of Lizzie Schori.
 
This try began the Mustangs dominant scoring performance, putting them up 5-0 and igniting their momentum as they began pushing the Warriors back faster than they could recover on defense.
 
The Waterloo team played dirty, with several high tackle penalties and yellow cards drawn throughout the night. Still, the Mustangs capitalized on this, powering through once more to increase their lead to 10-0, with all ten points coming from Schori.
 
Western continued to work hard down the field. Still, a turnover put them on the defensive as the Warriors managed to charge and slip through the Mustangs' defense.
 
Western fought hard for their playoff spot and were fighting even harder to prove how much they deserved it.

"During the week we put ourselves under more pressure than any other team is going to put us under in a game, so come game day, the girls are used to that level of pressure and can play at that level," said Mustangs' Coach Josh Campbell. 
 
Kennedy Johnstone made an impressive impact, charging down the field for a 20-meter sprint and holding herself up against three Warriors trying to tackle her down.
 
Taylor Hagen scored the Mustangs' third try of the night. Schori successfully converted, bringing the score to 17-0 in the Mustangs' favor, a lead they held when the first half concluded.
 
"I think the first half had us a little bit - with the rain - everyone was a little antsy going into playoffs we were a little nervous, but when we got our system going and put the work in together we really started just playing our game" said Schori. 

The second half started with the Mustangs in possession as the rain finally subsided. They began strong right off the break, putting up another try on the board, extending their dominating lead to 24-0 with Johnstone scoring this try.
 
Western continued displaying a dominating performance against the visiting Warriors, once more driving through to the goal line with Johnstone scoring back-to-back tries, bringing the lead up to 29-0.
 
Cailyn McKay displayed remarkable speed, powering down the field to touch the ball down just right of center, extending the Mustangs' lead to 36-0.
 
Furthering their dominance, Reilly Cattell scored the next try for the team, increasing the lead to 41-0.
 
The Mustangs displayed absolute dominance over the Warriors, consistently charging through their defense.
 
Schori completed a hat-trick, touching down what became a third of the team's tries on the night and bringing the score up to 48-0.

"We definitely have a super hard game ahead of us next week, it's probably going to be the hardest game we've played all season," said Schori, "As a senior [the goal] is just to lay it all out for our next game and just hope we can make it to Nationals." 
 
 A 30-meter dash down the field allowed Tess Kristoff to finish it for the Mustangs and put down the team's 9th try, pushing their lead to an impressive 53-0 to polish off the match.
 
The Mustangs will head to Kingston next week to face the top-ranked Queens Gaels in the 2023 OUA Semi-Finals. Keep an eye out for details on WesternMustangs.ca.