Photo Courtesy: Nav Mohan - 94.9 Radio Western

 

GOJHL

The London Nationals would suffer their second regulation loss of the season on Friday when they fell 2-1 on the road to the Leamington Flyers. Rory DiNiro would pick up the eventual game-winning goal in the second period for the Flyers, with their goalie Zach Borgiel stopping 23/24 shots.

The St. Thomas Stars would also play on Thursday, beating the Sarnia Legionnaires 4-2 on the road. Jake Robinson would score a goal and two assists while Matthew Shuckett and Jackson Brown each had a goal and a helper. The Stars would face off against the London Nationals on Sunday evening, with the Nats narrowly escaping with a 2-1 win. Riley MacRae would put London ahead in the second period and never look back, as the Nats avoid back-to-back losses.

The Komoka Kings had just one game this past weekend, getting shutout by the Leamington Flyers at home on Saturday night. The Kings are now 8-13-0-0 on the season, with the division-leading London Nationals having over twice as many points as Komoka.

 

High School Football

The London High School Senior Football Championships are tonight as it is a rematch from last year: A.B Lucas and Catholic Central. Lucas would win the city championship in their matchup last year. Kickoff will be at 8:30pm.

 

Western Mustangs

 

Football

The Western Mustangs are off to their second Vanier Cup in as many years after defeating the Canada West-champion Saskatchewan Huskies 47-24 to win the 2018 U Sports Mitchell Bowl. The Huskies proved to be a tough test early in the game, as they would capitalize on two Colton Klassen touchdown receptions in the first half. Western would enjoy two Harry McMaster touchdowns of their own, as the two teams went into half tied at 17-17. The Mustangs then reminded everyone why they are the top team in the nation, as they implemented their ground-assault. Eventually, Alex Taylor would break free for a 58-yard touchdown run to extend Western’s lead 33-17, which they would not look back from. Chris Merchant would win Mitchell Bowl MVP after taking some hard hits early in the game, then bouncing back to score three total touchdowns on 333 all-purpose yards. Harry McMaster would finish his last-ever game at TD Stadium with 11 receptions totaling 152 yards and two touchdowns, while Fraser Sopik led the defensive effort with 14 total tackles, eight of which were solo. The Mustangs will now play in a rematch of the Vanier Cup last year against the Laval Rouge et Or, who won the Uteck Bowl 63-0 over St. FX. Laval will host the 54^th Vanier Cup at their newly-built Telus University Stadium, despite the fact that the Vanier Cup has always been held at a neutral location. Kickoff will be at 1pm from Laval on Saturday.

 

Hockey

The Mustangs women’s hockey team had a back-to-back this weekend, playing at home on Friday then on the road on Saturday. Friday’s game was a 1-0 win over the York Lions, with Carmen Lasis making 37 saves in the shutout. Renae Nevills would score the lone goal of the game in the third period. The ladies would be in St. Catharine’s the next night, but would fall to the Brock Badgers 2-1. Renae Nevills would pick up the lone goal again for the Mustangs to give her four on the season. She hadn’t scored a goal in her OUA career prior to this season. The Mustangs are now 6-2-0-1 on the season, sitting fourth in the OUA. They will have a rematch against the Badgers on Friday though at Thompson Arena at 7pm, before taking on the Ryerson Rams in Toronto on Saturday.

The men’s team also had a home and away game this past weekend, opposite than that of the women’s team. On Friday night, the Mustangs were on the road, beating the Toronto Varsity Blues in a barn-burner 6-4. Rookie Kenny Huether would score two goals, with Anthony Stefano, Jonathan Laser, Ray Huether and Trevor Warnaar all having multi-point nights. The next night they would return home to take on the defending Queen’s Cup silver medallists in the Brock Badgers. The purple & white would keep the offence rolling with a 5-1 final. Anthony Stefano would find his name on the scoresheet four times, with a goal and three assists. Luke Peresinni would make 28 saves in the one-goal effort. The Mustangs picked up back-to-back wins for the first time all season, and also beat the Badgers for the first time since 2016. They have three games left before the winter break, starting with a rematch at Brock on Friday.

 

Basketball

The Mustangs basketball teams had a light weekend, playing just once down the 401 in Windsor to take on the Lancers. The women’s team fell victim to Chantel Vallee’s legendary coaching pedigree, as the lady Lancers would win 77-46. The men’s team would rise above five hundred with a 76-57 win over Windsor in a first-round playoff rematch from last year. Five Mustangs would have double-digit point totals, including rookie Aaron Tenant who went 5-7 from the field with 11 points. Julian Walker picked up a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards. The teams have a road trip to Toronto this weekend, as they have dates with the Varsity Blues on Friday, then the Ryerson Rams on Saturday.

 

Volleyball

The Mustangs volleyball teams were playing host to two Toronto-based powerhouses in the Toronto Varsity Blues and Ryerson Rams. On Friday, the women’s team had a tough start against U of T, dropping the first two sets, without showing much fight at all. They would proceed to steal back the next to sets, and eventually win it in five in an exciting comeback. The ladies would take it to the Ryerson Rams the next evening, who hadn’t yet lost in 2018-19. That would change when they left Alumni Hall, as they fell to the Mustangs in four sets. The women’s volleyball team is now 5-2 on the season after sweeping their weekend set.

The men’s volleyball team had the same opponents as the ladies, but they handled the Toronto Varsity Blues much easier than the women, beating them in four sets. Gianfranco Sartor had a monster performance for the Stangs, with a .516 kill percentage, which led his team. The Mustangs would also beat the Ryerson Rams on Saturday evening in straight sets to give them a 5-2 record on the season, two points behind division-leading Guelph. The volleyball teams will play a lone matchup in Windsor against the Lancers on Friday evening.