London, ON – A couple of hard work goals secured the win for the Mustangs as they topped Brock 2-1 on Thursday night.
"I thought we had a lot of grade-a chances prior to them scoring tonight, I thought it was just a matter of us finding a way to finish on our opportunities," said Mustangs Head Coach Candice Moxley "Our team played well tonight, we were battling, winning puck races and doing all the things we needed to do to come out with a win tonight,"
Neither side could find the net in the opening period with the Mustangs outshooting the Badgers 7-4 in the frame.
Brock would open the scoring on the night with a goal just over 12 minutes into the 2nd period.
Western would respond quickly when a bouncing puck made its way to the front of the net and Haylie Kirkpatrick took a swipe at it and found the back of the Brock net to even the game at a goal apiece.
"It was a hard net drive and sometimes you have to manufacture goals, it may not be the prettiest way to get one but it's what gets the job done," said Moxley.
In the third period, both sides were pressing to try and find the lead. Mid way through the period Western would gain control in their own end and skate the puck down the ice, Reese Martin would gain the offensive zone, fire a puck on net and the rebound slid into the blue paint where Alana Tymochko jumped on the open puck and converted to give Western a 2-1 lead.
"I went in down low, Kate Martin did an amazing job going end to end, I just kind of swept into the open space and the puck was sitting there and I put it in, I honestly kind of blacked out a little bit but it worked out,"
The goal was Tymochko's first of her OUA career.
"She worked hard to get herself that opportunity and I am so glad she was rewarded for it," said Moxley
Brock battled in the remainder of regulation, even pulling their goalie with just over two minutes left but Mustangs goalie Brooke Vaccari stood tall and kept the equalizer out of the Western net and held on for the 2-1 win.
"I've been really impressed with how she's been able to step in and play really well here early," said Moxley of her goaltender "She is a steady force back there for us, definitely a bit of a coach's dream right now,"
Next up for the Mustangs, they're back on home ice tomorrow night (November 24) for a 7:00 pm puck drop with the Nipissing Lakers.
"Getting the win tonight really starts off our weekend on the right foot and is super important for us to get the three points here because we know Nipissing is a really tough team to play against and this really gives us a boost going into tomorrow night," said Tymochko.
Fans can buy their tickets at westernmustangs.ca/tickets in advance or at the door. Western students get FREE admission to all regular season on-campus games with their Western ONECard at the entrance of the arena.
