St. Catharines, ON – The Mustangs are back-to-back Baggataway Cup champions after taking an 11-3 win over Queen's on Sunday afternoon.
"It means a lot to win back-to-back, especially for this group of special players with great character." said Mustangs Head Coach Chris Standish "It's really hard to repeat, mostly because of the expectation and pressure we put on ourselves. So it took a full season to re learn how to be a Championship team,"
Western finished out the national championship with a dominant performance over the Gaels, scoring once in the first period, twice in the second period, three times in the third and added five goals in the fourth period.
The Mustangs spread out the offence, with Connor Murphy leading the way with three goals, Max Brook had two goals and an assist and Chris Da Silva had two goals.
Fischer Stoltz got the win in the Mustangs goal, making 11 saves on 14 shots.
"This win meant everything to me and the team. We faced lots of adversity during the regular season and came into the weekend as underdogs. Bouncing back and winning the national championship meant the world to our team." said Stoltz.
The Mustangs clinched their berth in the Baggataway final after a nail biter win over the McGill Redbirds on Saturday afternoon. McGill was undefeated in the regular season and were dominant along the way.
The Mustangs trailed 7-5 after the 2
nd period but outscored McGill 6-4 in the second half to force overtime. In the extra frame, Western's Da Silva would score with just three seconds left to secure the win.
Western's standout scorer of the weekend was Jacob Hickey who had 6 goals and an assist in the Mustangs tournament opener against Ottawa and followed that up with 7 goals and an assist in the McGill game.
"Jacob Hickey had a massive weekend. In fact he had an incredible year. He was one of the best in the league last season and elevated his game even more this season." said Standish "It's been a pleasure watching him play at Western and I'm thankful for his leadership."
The event awards and all-stars are expected to be named later this week.
