London, ON – The Mustangs closed out the 2022-23 regular season with a 5-3 win over the Windsor Lancers on seniors night.
While the Mustangs knew coming into the game that their season would conclude at the end of the game, that didn't limit the teams energy level.
"We left some points on the table in the first half of the season that came back to hurt us in the long run but I thought the second half of the season was more indicative of the skill of our group," said Head Coach Clarke Singer "A game like tonight was a great example, Windsor is one of the top teams this season and I felt we are right there with them,"
Western came out with a great pace scoring just over two minutes into the game. Shane Bulitka opened the scoring for the Mustangs when he took the puck into the Windsor zone in a one-on-one battle and finished it off with a one-handed backhand goal to take a 1-0 lead.
"I was really just trying to protect the puck and tried to get a quick shot off there and was lucky to get the puck over the goalies pad there," said Bulitka "We had a lot of senior guys in the lineup tonight, some of them in their last games so we just wanted to play as hard as we can for them,"
Just under four minutes later the Mustangs would strike again when Eric Van Impe sent the puck on net, Michael Boushy got the initial rebound and then Sean Montgomery jumped on an open puck and gave the Mustangs a 2-0 lead.
The Lancers would respond with two goals of their own before the end of the period with both sides tied at 2-2 going into the intermission.
Western would regain their lead mid-way through the 2
nd period while on the powerplay, Reed Morsion sent a cross-ice pass to Jack York who sent the one-timer into the open cage to take a 3-2 lead.
The Mustangs would strike again on the man advantage in the third period. Franco Sproviero slid the puck into the slot and Bulitka would get his second goal of the night to take a 4-2 lead.
Prior to the game, the coaching staff recognized nine graduating seniors including Josh Leblanc, Mel Melconian, Michael Boushy, Riley Macrae, Reed Morison, Sean Montgomery, Franco Sproviero, Kyle Langdon & Kyle Pettit.
"There were a couple of students here tonight that I taught on my first placement that were yelling Mr. Pettit which felt kind of weird because I've only been called that in the classroom, said Pettit who is graduating with a teaching degree this year "It was a great way to finish out my Mustangs career,"
The coaches presented each player with their game jersey along with a framed action shot.
"When I think about a guy like Kyle, he has been an outstanding player for our program but an even better person and we have been so privileged to have him in our dressing room for all these years," said Singer of his captain "He will go down as one of the best Mustangs ever in my mind and one of the longest-tenured members having been with the program for close to 2000 days from the time he started with us to now, just an amazing person that we are truly appreciative of his time and dedication to us.
The Mustangs finish the season in 7
th place with a record of 11-11-5-0.
