London, ON – The Western Mustangs put up a strong fight but fell close 1-0 to the Laurier Golden Hawks tonight. The Mustangs had some scoring chances and a great penalty kill performance, but they were unable to capitalize.
In the first period, with four Mustangs rookies on the ice, the home team showed strong energy early in the game, looking to extend their momentum from last Sunday's win. Just five minutes into the period, Western tried to break out of the zone and had a great open shot attempt, but Laurier's defense blocked the opportunity.
Laurier opened the scoring just seven minutes into the game. The Mustangs responded with a shot that hit the post as they tried to tie the game.
By the end of the first period, Western led in shots 7-4, but Laurier held onto their 1-0 lead.
In the second period, the Mustangs kept maintaining offensive pressure. Midway through the frame, Western made some great shot attempts, including a strong effort from Wunda that was stopped by Laurier's goaltender.
Later in the period, Wunda broke through Laurier's defense again, going one-on-one against the Golden Hawks' goalie but couldn't capitalize.
After 30 minutes of clean play, two penalties came in a row against Mustangs' two defences #8 player Kate Martin at 9:41 and #68 Maria Shea at 15:52. However, Western held both penalty kills strong and kept the Golden Hawks off the scoreboard.
With 23 seconds remaining in the period, Laurier got their first penalty, which gave Western their first power-play opportunity as the period came to a close.
In the third period, Laurier came out strong, putting heavy pressure on the Mustangs. However, Western's goalie Ella Brabrook made important saves and stopped them to score again. Brabrook recorded 14 saves in total tonight.
As time passed, the game saw very few icing calls, with both teams locked in into the puck battles. With only one goal down, tensions ran high between the teams with the fans cheering.
The Mustangs took Brabrook out of the ice and tried to use the man advantage to even the score in the dying minutes. Western was not able to find the back of the net, and Laurier secured the 1-0 victory with the lone goal from the first period. Laurier had 15 shots, while Western had 14.
Next Game:
The Mustangs will look to bounce back in their next game on Saturday, January 25th, at 3:00 PM at home against Ottawa.
