LONDON, Ontario — Western lost to Toronto 3-1 on Friday night at Thompson Arena. The Mustangs were held to 16 shots and went 0-for-4 on the power play, while their goalie made 23 saves.
After the Mustangs' loss, Head Coach Brittany Howard pointed to special teams as an area for growth, saying, "That's a great team over there, one of those ones. They won the special teams battle tonight, and that's something we've got to improve on. A lot of moving pieces when it comes to special teams, but it's something you've got to be able to cash in on." On the late-game decision-making around the power play, Howard added, "I think obviously you look at the stats on it, you want to pull the goalie earlier, but our 3 power plays in the second period didn't really give us confidence that we were able to have them in."
The Mustangs were kept off the board in the first period, while Toronto scored the lone goal at 14:56 when Eden Gowing scored from Ryleigh Horlock. Western earned a power-play opportunity at 17:37 after Kaitlyn McKnight was called for cross-checking. The period ended with the Mustangs down 1-0.
Western's key response in the second period came at 4:51, when Sara Forwell scored from Lacey Larmand and Haylie Kirkpatrick after Toronto had struck earlier in the frame. Toronto's Christina Alexiou scored at 2:33, leaving the Mustangs facing a 2-0 deficit before Forwell's goal made it 2-1. Western then spent much of the middle of the period defending Toronto power-play chances after penalties to Claire Stewart, Emma Campbell and Ella Tarasovich. The teams traded late body-checking penalties, and the Mustangs finished the period still within one at 2-1.
Western generated multiple power-play opportunities in the third period but was held off the scoresheet, finishing the frame without a goal. Toronto scored the only goal of the period at 3:02, with Abby Whitworth converting off assists from Christina Alexiou and Jaia Freer. The Mustangs also killed off the carryover Toronto power-play time early in the period before later getting another advantage when Karelle Daigle was called for hooking at 16:23. The period closed with Toronto ahead 3-1 on the scoreboard.
Mustangs Top Performers
Sara Forwell
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- 1 goal
Presley Daschuk
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- 23 saves
Haylie Kirkpatrick
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- 1 assist
Lacey Larmand
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- 1 assist
NEXT GAME
Up next, the Mustangs travel to Toronto on Sunday (Nov. 8) to take on the TMU Bold. Game time is 2:15 p.m. Fans can stream the action on OUA.tv.
