London, ON – The Mustangs rebounded from a three-game losing streak with a pair of wins on the road this weekend.
Western started the weekend on Friday night with a 5-4 win over Ontario Tech and followed that up with a 1-0 shutout of the Queen's Gaels.
GAME RECAPS
Friday, Nov 1
Two weeks after getting shutout by the Ontario Ridgebacks, the Mustangs got a four-goal second period to take the win.
Western opened the scoring late in the 1
st period when Gabby Lehoux sent the puck on net and Janique LaBossiere re-directed it right into front of the Ontario Tech goal and give the Mustangs a 1-0 advantage.
Ontario Tech would respond with a late goal in the opening period and the game was tied at 1-1 through 20 minutes of play.
The Ridgebacks would keep the momentum in the early stages of the second period, scoring less than two minutes into the period and then adding a shorthanded goal at the 7:14 mark of the period to take a 3-1 lead.
Western would respond right at the midway point of the period on the powerplay. Elizabeth Gauthier sent the puck on net and Madelaine DesRosiers deflected it to the top corner and pull Western to within one at 3-2.
Just over a minute later Western would add light the lamp again, Avry Pedersen skated the puck off the wing wall, sending a hard wrister on net and again the Mustangs re-directed the shot, this time Alana Tymochko got the goal to tie it up at 3-3.
The hard work of the Mustangs continued to pay off late in the period. After a puck battle around centre ice, Kate Suitor picked up the puck and skated into the offensive zone and took a shot on net, the rebound came right out in front where Pedersen would jump on the opportunity and bury the chance to give Western the 4-3 lead.
With ten seconds left in the period, the Mustangs had pressure in the Ontario Tech zone, after the Ridgebacks attempted to clear the puck, Arnica Bulmer sent a wrister toward the Ontario Tech net; it hit one of their defenders and deflected into the net, and Western held a 5-3 lead after two periods.
Ontario Tech would get a powerplay goal in the third period, but it wasn't enough, and Western would hold on to take a 5-4 win.
Brooke Vaccari made 15 saves in the win for the Mustangs.
Saturday, Nov 2
A tightly played game was decided by just a lone goal for the Mustangs in a 1-0 win over Queen's.
Just over six minutes into the game, Adeline Kristoff held the puck in the offensive zone, circling the back of the Queen's net and spotting Madelaine DesRosiers in the slot and she didn't miss. The shot took a deflection off of a Queen's defenders stick and fluttered into the Gaels net to give Western the 1-0 advantage.
Western would outshoot the Gaels 10-5 in the second period but neither side could convert and it remained 1-0 Western through 40 minutes of play.
In the third period, Queen's would put up heavy offensive pressure, including sending 14 shots on the Western net, but Vaccari remained solid, steering all shots aside to take the win.
NEXT GAME
The Mustangs remain on the road next weekend for a pair of games, starting with a trip to North Bay on Friday night for a 7:00 pm puck drop against Nipissing followed by a Saturday night game at 7:00 pm against the York Lions. Fans can watch the action on OUA.tv.
