Toronto, Ont. — The Western Mustangs closed out their season Saturday night with a back-and-forth 6–4 loss to the York Lions. 

Western started fast in their final outing. Just over a minute into the first period, Brett Willits opened the scoring at 1:13, finishing a play from Nathan Sauder to give the Mustangs an early 1–0 lead . York responded midway through the frame and then took a 2-1 lead late in the period on a bounce that slipped through traffic. 

The Mustangs tied the game in the second. On the power play at 9:57, Lawson Sherk made the game 2-2 with an unassisted marker . Just 28 seconds later, Western struck again with the man advantage. Nicholas Yearwood converted a feed from Zach Power and Sherk to flip the momentum and give the Mustangs a 3–2 lead . 

York answered on its own power play to even the score, but Western kept pushing. At 15:12, Zac McCann restored the Mustangs' lead at 4–3, finishing a play set up by Shane Bulitka and Tye McSorley . 

Through 40 minutes, Western had responded to every swing in the game. 

The third period tightened defensively before York found the equalizer at 10:28 on a short-handed goal, shifting momentum again . A go-ahead goal at 15:17 put York in front 5-4, and Western pressing late and pulling goaltender Jack McNaughton for the man advantage, an empty-net goal at 19:58 sealed the 6-4 final . 

Although the result wasn't what Western wanted, the Mustangs continued to battle throughout the night, responding when the momentum shifted and competing hard until the final horn.