London, ON – The Mustangs had one of their most complete efforts of the year in a 3-1 win over the TMU Bold on Friday night.
Prior to the start of the game, the Mustangs recognized legendary former Head Coach Ron Watson with a pregame ceremony and banner unveiling. Watson has been involved with the Mustangs Men's Hockey program for six decades.
"Ron has meant a lot to me personally through my life, from being a student of his to being my mentor while I was getting my master's degree and he was one of the people who hired me for this role," said Mustangs Head Coach Clarke Singer "I've learned a lot from him as a coach and a man so it was important for me and for our program to celebrate him and his family tonight,"
GAME RECAP
The two programs met for the second time in nine days after TMU won 6-2 on November 20
th in Toronto.
The first period saw both teams trade chances, with Western out shooting TMU 8-6, but neither side could find the back of the net and it remained scoreless after the opening twenty minutes.
In the second period, the Mustangs would convert just sixteen seconds into the period when Franco Sproviero skated the puck into the offensive zone and sent a wrister screaming past the TMU goaltender and gave Western a 1-0 lead.
"I haven't been shooting enough lately, and I've been trying to shoot more in practice, I think it kind of paid off tonight," said Sproviero.
After the Mustangs took a cross-checking penalty around the midway point of the period, Western would get a shorthanded marker when Sproviero stole the puck at the TMU blue line and patiently held the puck and converted from almost the same spot as the first goal to give Western a 2-0 lead.
"Spro sees the ice so well so we always like him making plays, but I think what makes him more dangerous is when he is a threat to shoot as well and he did a great job tonight," said Singer "We've been talking about that with him a bit lately and he found it a couple times tonight which was great,"
The Mustangs would hold the 2-0 lead through two periods. A notable highlight from the 2
nd period, on top of the goals, was a highlight reel pad save from Mustangs goaltender Matteo Drobac, who stopped a cross-ice TMU pass.
TMU put a full-force effort in during the 3
rd period but weren't able to score until under two minutes remaining in the period when they had pulled their goalie to cut the Western lead to 2-1. The Mustangs responded with just under a minute remaining, with Andrew Bruder getting credited with the winner and sealing the 3-1 win.
Drobac made 27 saves in the win for the Mustangs for his sixth victory of the year.
The win also gives Western their ninth win of the year, the most in the OUA West.
NEXT GAME
Western has a pair of games left before the holiday break, starting with a 5 pm puck drop as the Mustangs head to Oshawa to take on the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks.
"We'll enjoy tonight for a little bit and then turn our attention to Ontario Tech quickly," said Singer "Our side of the OUA is so tight that a couple of points can make the difference between second and seventh, so we just need to keep picking up points when we can and play well and play hard and I thought we did that tonight,"
Fans can watch the action against Ontario Tech on OUA.tv.
