LONDON, Ont. — The Western Mustangs delivered a composed and disciplined performance Friday night at Thompson Arena, defeating the York Lions 5–1 in a game shaped by physical play and special teams.

Head coach Clark Singer said he was happy with his team's approach in an important game as Western continues to push for a playoff spot.

"When you're in the position we're in, fighting for every point, you have to start hard and play the right way," Singer said. "It was only 1–0 after the first and it could have gone either way, but I thought we stuck to the game plan."

Western wasted no time setting the tone early. Just 40 seconds into the game, Mustangs got an early power-play opportunity. At 1:18, Christiano Aiello capitalized, scoring on the man advantage to open the scoring. Zach Power and Nicholas Yearwood picked up the assists as Western grabbed a 1-0 lead.

The remainder of the first period stayed physical and penalty-heavy. 
"In our league, five-on-five is so tight that you have to find ways to score on the power play," Singer said. "The guys have been doing good things even when the results weren't there, so it's nice to see them get rewarded."

Western carried the 1–0 advantage into the intermission.

The Mustangs broke the game open in the second period. At 7:40, Owen MacNeil doubled the lead with an unassisted goal after jumping on a loose puck. Just 28 seconds later, Aiello struck again, finishing a setup from Caleb Ven de Ven and Aidan Prueter to make it 3-0.


Western continued to take advantage of York penalties. At 12:17, Yearwood scored on the power play, finishing a feed from Power to give the Mustangs a commanding 4-0 lead heading into the third.

The final frame was getting more physical. At 4:40, Jacob Santerre added to the lead, scoring his second goal of the season off a pass from Brett Willits to make it 5-0. York eventually got on the board at 14:12, but Western stayed composed through a chaotic stretch late in the game that featured multiple roughing penalties, misconducts, and a game misconduct.

"We jumped ahead early, and after that the game got a little messy, but I thought we handled it well," Aiello said. "We had a really good second period and then played the right way in the third to close it out."

Despite the physical nature of the night, Western stayed structured and finished the game strong. In net, Chazz Nixon earned the win, stopping 27 of 28 shots.

Coach Singer also praised goaltender Chazz Nixon, who earned his first OUA win in his first start since October.

"We've shown we can beat anyone," Aiello said. "We just have to go in with the right mindset and give it everything."

The Mustangs are back on Saturday, January 31, at 3 pm when they host the TMU Bold at Thompson Arena.