London, ON - The Western Mustangs defeated the Guelph Gryphons 1-0 in their first game of the season on Monday night as Angelica Galluzzo netted the games lone goal in the second half.
 
Western started off incredibly strong, keeping much of the play on Guelph's side of the field and keeping the pressure up.
 
When Guelph tried to run with the ball towards Western's goal, they would be met by a solid defensive effort from the Mustangs, Avarie Thomas did a fantastic job at keeping the ball away from Western's net throughout the game. 
 
A nail-biting moment in the first half occurred when Guelph attempted two consecutive shots on goal, both hitting the goal posts which brought several loud gasps from the Mustangs side-line and the home crowd on hand.

The game remained tied at 0-0 through the first half.
 
Around the 58-minute mark of the game, Angelica Galluzzo jumped through traffic in front of the net off a corner kick and sent the ball into the back of Guelph's net, putting Western on the score board. The team would then go on to continued their strong defensive effort throughout the remainder of the match and hold on for the 1-0 win. 

Mustangs Head Coach Martin Painter noted "scored a good goal, executed well and the second half I thought defensively we were very, very solid but it was a good game". 
 
When asked about the strong defense in the game, Painter explained "it's something that is part of our identity, we've been a strong defensive team for years and we have some outstanding players at the back ... the whole team defensive effort I thought was excellent – again, credit to Guelph, they caused us some problems in the first half but I thought we organized ourselves well and I thought we played a very intelligent and controlled game of soccer in the second half so I'm really proud of the team".
 
It was Angelica Galluzzo's first game back with Western in a couple of years and when asked about her performance today, Painter noted "she is a class player, she is so smart, so composed and she has such quality in possession and defensively she's so smart. She was matched up against some very good players and had a challenge, but I thought she was fantastic".

Galluzzo noted "I was really nervous to come back but happy to be here". When asked about her thoughts for the upcoming season, she explained that she is "excited, it looks like a really solid group and the girls have a lot of energy and good leadership so [she's] excited".
 
Western will now head on the road for the first time this season, as they head to Guelph next weekend when the two teams face off again. Game time is set for September 10 at 1:00 pm.