London, ON - For the second time in less than 24 hours, the Mustangs and Lakehead Thunderwolves took to the ice at Thompson Arena.
Western secured a 3-2 victory this time around, solidifying their playoff position, which will see them take on their visitors from Thunder Bay again later this week.
"I thought we had much more control of the game today, it looked much more like how we usually play, we were physical and I was proud of how we bounced back today," said Mustangs Head Coach Clarke Singer.
GAME RECAP
In the first period, Lakehead started with an early goal by Tyler Turpin which gabe them a 1-0 advantage early on.
Shortly after the midway mark of the period Lakehead took a penalty that would prove costly as Western captain Shane Bulitka would get the puck in the slot and bury it to even the game at 1-1, assists went to Zach Power and Lawson Sherk.
The score remained locked at one throught the first intermission.
In the second period, Drew Wawrow scored for the Mustangs at 7:55, assisted by Jacob Santerre and Jake Gravelle, marking Wawrow's third goal of the season and take a 2-1 lead.
The emotions of the back-to-back game boiled over late in the period when a flurry of penalties were called with just two seconds left in the period, ending with the Mustangs having the man advantage.
In the third period, Eric Van Impe scored a power-play goal for the Mustangs at 1:53, assisted by Jake Gravelle and Jack York, marking Van Impe's eighth goal of the season and giving Western a 3-1 lead.
Lakehead was able to get a late goal after pulling their goalie and cut the Western lead to 3-2 but they weren't able to get the equalizer before time expired.
With the win, the Mustangs finish the season with a 16&12 record and a fourth place finish in the OUA West. With the loss Lakehead finishes fifth and means the Thunderwolves and Mustangs will face each other in the opening round of the playoffs starting later in the week.
"The playoffs is a completely different complexion. There's so much on the line and you have to be incredibly disciplined and you know it's tough up there, right? They they've got a big home advantage up there and they always play very, very well at home," said Singer "It'll be a huge test for us this week going up there for game one."
After missing the playoffs the last two seasons, the Mustangs return to to postseason looking to make an impact. "I think it's a great bounce back by the group after a couple more challenging years in a very competitive OUA West and you know, I think to finish 4th in the conference that really says a lot about our leadership group and the year we had."
GAME STATS
1st Period - Shane Bulitka (8) from Zach Power & Lawson Sherk - 12:51
2nd Period - Drew Wawrow (3) from Jacob Santerre & Jake Gravelle - 7:55
3rd Period - Eric Van Impe (8) from Jake Gravelle & Jack York - 1:53
NEXT GAME
The OUA Playoff schedule will be released over the coming days, Tickets will be available for Mustangs home games at WesternMustangs.ca/tickets and all games will be streamed on OUA.tv. Stay tuned to WesternMustangs.ca for full details.
