Photo Courtesy: Nav Mohan - 94.9 Radio Western

GOJHL

The London Nationals took on the St. Thomas Stars in a battle of Middlesex County yesterday evening, beating them 4-2. London opened the scoring with two goals in the first 10 minutes of regulation, but the Stars would respond with a goal of their own in the second period. The Nats would put it out of reach in the final frame though with two more quick goals. Cal Davis and Riley MacRae would both have three-point nights for London (Davis: 3a; MacRae: 1g, 2a). This was the lone game on the schedule for the Nats, as they won’t be in action again until next Wednesday.

The Stars will be back in action tomorrow night when they host the LaSalle Vipers at the Joe Thornton Community Centre. This will be the fifth meeting of the season between the Stars and the Vipers, with St. Thomas coming out on top in three of those occasions.

The Komoka Kings will play tonight in Sarnia against the Legionnaires at 7:10pm. That will kick off a home-and-home with Sarnia, with the back half being played in Komoka on Saturday. The Kings are one point ahead of St. Thomas as the two sit seventh and eighth, respectively in the GOJHL West Standings. London remains in the top spot, nine points ahead of second-place Chatham.

Western Mustangs

Hockey

The Western men’s hockey team will be playing a rare morning game tomorrow as hundreds of London-area elementary children will be in attendance for the annual School Day Game. The Mustangs will be taking on the Laurier Golden Hawks, with one team holding onto a streak they want to continue, while the other has a streak they’d like to end. The purple & white have won seven games in a row dating back to November 16^th. In that span, they have scored 29 goals while only giving up nine. The Laurier Golden Hawks on the other hand, sit in second-last in the division coming into play with a 5-10-4-4 record. They come in going 6-4 over their last 10 games, but have lost their first two games of 2019, dropping a back-to-back against Windsor. This will be the second meeting of the season between these two teams, with the Golden Hawks winning the first one 2-1 back on November 11^th at Thompson Arena. Friday’s game is certainly the lesser of two evils for the Mustangs, as on Saturday they will have to play the York Lions who come into the weekend’s action just a point behind Western for third in the West. Much like Western, has eluded the York Lions so far this year, as they seem to switch between three-game winning streaks and three-game losing streaks. The Lions are struggling as of late, winning just one of its past six games. Western of course, is on a seven-game winning streak coming into the weekend and will be determined to capitalize on two struggling foes. Puck drop for Friday’s game will be at 11:30am, then Saturday’s will be at 7pm, both from Thompson Arena.

The women’s team will be playing twice this weekend as well, starting with the Laurentian Voyageurs on Saturday afternoon. The Voyageurs are 3-8-1-3 so far this year, good for 10^th in the OUA. They have, however, lost their last eight games in a row coming into the weekend. The Mustangs will be looking to improve on a lacklustre performance against the Toronto Varsity Blues wherein they lost in a shootout on a controversial call. Even though the Mustangs were robbed, they were outplayed for two of the three periods, and have many adjustments to make. April Clark is handling the scoring as per usual, but a new addition on her line could help her even more, as Sydnee Baker joined the top line with Clark and Shailyn Waites. Baker has only played in three games this season after missing the first half because of injury. The Mustangs’ second game of the weekend is a much tougher test, as they will be hosting the Nipissing Lakers. The Lakers come into the weekend one point ahead of Western in the standings, occupying the second spot in the OUA. The outcome of this game could have huge implications on the OUA standings, and both teams will be hell-bent on taking all three of the points on the table as to not relinquish any ground in the standings. The Lakers are 6-3-5-1 on the year and come into the weekend on a three-game winning streak. Puck drop for both women’s games will be at 2:30pm.

Basketball

The basketball teams will be looking to sort out any kinks in their respective games this weekend, as they will be hosting a double-header against the Algoma Thunderbirds. Algoma’s women’s team is 4-8 on the season, but Western has historically performed well against them. To make matters even better for the Stangs, they could finally see the return of one or both of their key pieces to their starting lineup, as seniors Julia Curran and Maddy Horst are simply waiting for medical clearance to get back into the fray. Their return will take a lot of pressure off of the rookies and sophomores who have consisted the starting lineup for most of the season. The inexperience is evident in their 1-11 record, and their statistics aren’t quite up to par when compared to the rest of the league. For Western though, the return of their seniors truly marks the start of their season, as Head Coach Brian Cheng has stated: “we have been in preseason mode since September,” when asked about his season.

The men’s team will be looking to use their games against the sub-500 Thunderbirds to pad their lead in the OUA West. The Mustangs currently sit in the top spot, and two wins against a division opponent would be valuable points in the standings. The Mustangs are the top stealing team in the OUA averaging over 11 per game, with Eriq Jenkins and Nik Farkic leading the charge in those categories. Standout rookie Julius Laurinavicius just underwent surgery and will likely miss the rest of the season recovering. He averaged just under two points a game in nine minutes of court time.  Julian Walker has proven himself to be a valuable piece of the puzzle for the Mustangs, averaging just under double-digits in scoring, and pulling down just under seven rebounds per game. He also shoots nearly 60% from the field.

Tip offs for both games will be at 6pm and 8pm for the women and men, respectively.

Volleyball

The Mustang’s volleyball teams will resume their OUA schedules this weekend with a pair of road matches against Brock and McMaster. The women’s team played in a tournament over the holidays held by Humber college, so they have been keeping themselves sharp. The women’s standings show the Mustangs, Badgers and Marauders all tied with 10 points on the season, with the Mustangs holding down the second spot in the division based on the head-to-head matchups. The ladies have beat the Badgers once, but fell to the Marauders to close out 2018 to put them at 5-4.

The men’s team did not play over the holidays, but they are going to try to carry over momentum gained in a thrilling five-set win over the Marauders to close out the fall schedule. McMaster leads the OUA West on the men’s side, but a loss to Western could see the two teams swap places in the standings. Western also took its lone game against Brock in straight sets towards the beginning of the year.