Photo Courtesy: Nav Mohan - 94.9 Radio Western

GOJHL

The London Nationals were in a barn-burner on Thursday evening when they took on the Sarnia Legionnaires, playing them to a 6-6 tie. London led 4-2 in the second period, but Sarnia would score two quick goals in the final minutes of the frame to tie it. The teams then exchanged goals in the third period before two scoreless overtime sessions. James Turner had two goals and an assist, while Max Vinogradov also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists. The Nats were looking to get back into the win column on Saturday with a game in Strathroy against the Rockets. Strathroy would have the edge in the Saturday night fight beating London 4-2 with a three-point effort from the Rockets’ Lucas Fancy (1g, 2a). The Nats have slowed down in recent months since their torrent pace to start the year, as Chatham is now seven points out of first place, a spot which London enjoyed a lead as high as 15 points this season. Their next game will be against St. Thomas on Wednesday night.

Those St. Thomas Stars suffered a pair of losses this past weekend, first 6-3 to Leamington on Thursday, then 4-1 to Strathroy on Friday night. At 11-17-3-2, the Stars have dropped to 8^th  in the GOJHL West.

The Komoka Kings split its weekend set, first blanking the St. Mary’s Lincolns 4-0 on Saturday. Joel Mazzilli had two assists, while Jacob Rochford added a goal and an assist. Goaltender Nathan Young made 21 saves for his first shutout of the year. The Kings would fall to the Chatham Maroons 5-2 the next night. Their next game will be on Thursday night in Sarnia.

Western Mustangs

Hockey

The men’s hockey team are on a bit of a tear as of late, as they finished the fall schedule off with five straight wins. They were looking to make that six straight on Friday night when they hosted the 8th seeded Guelph Gryphons, who were on a bit of a streak of their own heading into the new year as they finished off 2018 winning three of their last four games. Guelph would jump out to a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Western would respond in the second frame with three unanswered, then capped it off in the third with an empty netter. Alex Di Carlo scored his first-career OUA goal for the Mustangs; Ethan Szypula recorded his seventh goal of the season, continuing his stellar rookie pace; and Anthony Stefano had a goal and an assist to pad his lead on the team’s scoring race. The Mustangs would be back in action the next night as they hosted the Toronto Varsity Blues. Western beat Toronto 6-4 in November, which was what got their current winning streak started. The Mustangs would remain hot, getting some secondary scoring in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Toronto, with goals coming from Spenser Cobbold, Rylan Bechtel and Kyle Pettit. Luke Peresinni would make 28 saves for his first shutout of the season, and the second of his OUA career. The men’s team is now third in the OUA west right now and are hands down the hottest team in the league.

The women’s team also had a pair of home games to kick off 2019, first beating the Ryerson Rams 3-0 on Saturday. April Clark picked up her league-leading 12th goal, and Carmen Lasis would make 19 saves in her third shutout of the year. On Sunday they would play another Toronto foe, as they welcomed the Varsity Blues to town. Toronto jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period, but the OUA’s leading point-getter was able to draw within one as April Clark padded her goal total yet again. The Mustangs would then tie it in the third period with Shana Alexander’s second goal of the year. Overtime solved nothing, so the game went to a shootout. In the skills competition, Sydney Baker appeared to have given the Mustangs a 2-1 lead by firing a picture-perfect shot off the post and in. However, the referee waved the goal off, despite the rules stating that the shot is technically over when the puck stops moving. Baker’s clear shootout goal did not count, and Varsity Blues would end up winning as a result. An absolutely heartbreaking way for a comeback to come short for the purple and white, as they now fall to 0-4 in overtime, and now sit fourth in the OUA at 8-2-0-4.

Basketball

The Western Mustangs basketball teams played in a Saturday afternoon tilt against the Brock Badgers. The women’s team have struggled this year, being ravaged by injuries, wondering who will be in the lineup game in and game out, and just simply not having enough talent and experience to compete. The ladies were 1-10 on the season heading into the game, hoping that veteran stars Julia Curran and Maddy Horst would return from the winter break healthy. Well, Curran did, but then re-injured herself in practice, and Horst was on the cusp of being medically cleared to return but hadn’t yet gotten the nod. So, the Mustangs were in the same position as they were in 2018 prior to their game against the 4-7 Brock Badgers. The Mustangs did win the first and fourth quarters of this game, but a 16-3 run from Brock to open the second frame proved to be the difference in the Badgers’ 70-57 win. Laura Graham was the leading scorer for Western in the game with 12 points. The Mustangs are now 0-5 at Alumni Hall and 1-11 on the season, but blue skies may be on the horizon as key players should start returning from injury in this half of the season.

The men’s team followed the women with a marquee matchup against the Badgers’ men’s squad. Both teams were at 7-4 coming into action, with top spot in the division temporarily on the line for the winner. The Mustangs jumped out to a quick lead in the game, leading by 13 points at the halftime break. The Badgers would snarl their way back in the third quarter though, outscoring the Mustangs 28-19 in the frame, making the fourth quarter a rather interesting one. With 12 seconds left, with the game tied and overtime looming over the two teams, Omar Shiddo would nail a step back three which would eventually be the game-winner in a thrilling 80-75 win for the Mustangs. The Mustangs move to 8-4 on the season, and briefly held the top spot in the OUA West, but then relinquished it about an hour later when Laurier defeated Windsor to put them in the top spot. Western is still in second though and have another good matchup this weekend as both teams will host the Algoma Thunderbirds in a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday evenings.