Photo Courtesy: Kristen Liang - 94.9 Radio Western

 

GOJHL

The London Nationals hosted the Chatham Maroons last night at the Western Fair Sports Centre, and were able to pull out a 2-1 win in double overtime. The goal-scoring was started by the Maroons under five minutes into the opening frame, with Dane Johnstone picking up his 10^th  goal of the season. The game would remain 1-0 until the final two minutes of the game, where Noah Tooke would score the equalizer with the net empty. 121 seconds into the second overtime period, James Turner would score his 12^th  goal of the season to give the Nationals the win. Zach Springer would make 25 saves in the win for London. The Nats will be back in action tonight when they head to Sarnia to play the Legionnaires. Sarnia is 10-7-0-2 and sit fifth in the Western Conference.

The St. Thomas Stars will play a pair of games this weekend, starting tomorrow night when they host the Sarnia Legionnaires. The last time the Stars and Legionnaires played was a 3-2 win for Sarnia at the beginning of November. Puck drop for Friday’s game will be at 7:30pm from the Joe Thornton Recreation Centre. Saturday, the Stars will be playing the Strathroy Rockets on the road. The Rockets are second-last in the West, with a 9-14-0-0 record. St. Thomas has won the two teams’ only other meeting this year 4-2 in late October.

The Komoka Kings will be in Leamington to take on the Flyers in their first of two games this weekend. Leamington has had the Kings’ number this season, winning both of their previous meetings, including an 8-3 blowout early in the year. The Kings will then play the LaSalle Vipers on Saturday evening at home. The Kings have the head-to-head advantage over the Vipers, winning both matchups so far against the sixth-place team in the GOJHL West. Puck drop for the LaSalle game will be at 7:15pm from the Middlesex Wellness and Recreation Centre.

 

High School Football

The Catholic Central High School Crusaders—who won the WOSSAA championship in senior football—were unable to win their OFSAA matchup in Ottawa on Monday, falling to St. Thomas More out of Hamilton 26-9. Despite the provincial championship loss, the Crusaders did win their first WOSSAA championship in three years. Congratulations to the players and coaches of CCH for a terrific season!

 

Western Mustangs

 

OUA fall schedules will be wrapping up this weekend, here are the final matchups for the Western Mustangs teams!

 

Hockey

The men’s hockey team will end the 2018 portion of the schedule with a home-and-home against the rival Windsor Lancers. The Lancers have already taken both matchups against Western this season; once in the preseason 4-2, then once in the regular season 3-2. The first half of the home-and-home will be played at Thompson Arena tonight—the Mustangs’ final home game of 2018. It will also be a ‘Movember’ themed night, with festivities set to take place during intermissions. On Saturday, Windsor will host the Mustangs to round out the fall calendar. Western currently sits a single point ahead of Windsor, who come in having losing their last four in a row, while Western is on a three-game winning streak. Puck drop for tonight’s game will be at 7pm from Thompson Arena.

The women’s team will have just one game to end their 2018 schedule, playing the York Lions on the road on Friday. The Mustangs won the two teams’ previous meeting 1-0 at Thompson Arena two weeks ago. The York Lions women’s hockey team has not beaten the Western Mustangs in an OUA regular season game since 2011, and have not scored against the purple and white since January of 2017. Mustangs’ April Clark leads the OUA with 16 points, and is tied for the league-lead in goals with 10. The action will get underway from Toronto at 7pm.

 

Basketball

The Mustangs’ basketball teams will finish 2018 with a road swing, playing the Nipissing Lakers and the Laurentian Voyageurs. For the women, the game against the Lakers could be an opportunity to get some good experience, as the Lakers sit at 0-8 (Western’s 1-8). The lady Voyageurs are just above the Lakers in the OUA East standings, sitting at 2-6. Western has lost their last seven in a row, but historically play well against these two opponents.

The men’s team will have an opportunity to go into the winter break three games above .500 should they win their two matchups in Northern Ontario. The men’s Lakers team is 1-7 on the year, while the Voyageurs are 4-4 having lost their last three games. The Mustangs are coming off an ugly loss against Ryerson last weekend 84-46.

 

Volleyball

The volleyball teams will have a tough test heading into the winter break, as they will host the McMaster Marauders at Alumni Hall on Friday night. The Marauder’s women’s team is surprisingly 4-3 on the season so far, after finishing first in the OUA West last season with a 17-2 record. The lady Mustangs are 5-3 this season, sitting in second place.

The men’s Marauders squad is atop their OUA West standings with a 6-1 record. The match will feature the two top hitting percentages in the OUA with Western’s Jackson Bere leading the pack with a .383 success rate, with McMaster’s Andrew Richards placing second with a  .374 percentage.

The matches will be at 6pm and 8pm for the women and men, respectively, at Alumni Hall.