Photo Courtesy: Nav Mohan - 94.9 Radio Western

GOJHL

The Komoka Kings were in London on Wednesday night to take on the Nationals, falling to the division-leaders 5-3. The Nats were led by Cal Davis and George Diaco, who both had a goal and an assist. Joel Mazzilli did record two points of his own to keep pace with Davis for the conference scoring race. The Nationals will have another game on Sunday when they take on the Chatham Maroons, who have taken three of the two team’s last five meetings. The Maroons are the only team that London has a losing record to this season. The Kings will play a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday. Friday evening’s contest will be against the St. Mary’s Lincolns on the road, before they return home to host Leamington on Friday. The Kings are 4-1 against St. Mary’s this year, while they have yet to beat the Flyers this year going 0-3 so far.

The St. Thomas Stars lost a close game against Sarnia on Thursday night, falling 3-2 in overtime. The Stars would have a 2-0 lead in the third period, but a Legionnaires offence which would end up recording 62 shots on goal would eventually break through to tie with under two minutes left in regulation. Nolan DeGurse would score the OT winner for Sarnia. The Stars will play the Chatham Maroons on Friday night, then the Strathroy Rockets on Sunday.

Western Mustangs

Hockey
Both Western Mustangs hockey teams are hitting the road this weekend.

The women’s team will have a long trip to Kingston on Friday as they will be playing the Queen’s Gaels in a Judy McCaw Cup rematch from last year. The Mustangs have already beaten the Gaels once this year, opening the season with a 4-1 win. Queen’s has struggled a little bit as of late, sitting in 8^th in the OUA, after going 5-5 in their last 10 games. Western has surged in their past few games, picking up points in their past seven games and winning three of their last four overall. The Mustangs will then stop in Oshawa on the way home to take on the UOIT Ridgebacks on Saturday afternoon. The Ridgebacks are hoping to use a tired Western team to snap a three-game losing streak, as they sit 8 points outside a playoff spot.

The men’s team will be looking to renew pleasantries with the York Lions on Friday night, playing the back half of a home-and-home in York. The Mustangs took the first meeting 2-1 with Cordell James’ last-minute goal. There were, however, many penalties in that game, with Mustangs captain Jonathan Laser getting ejected late in the game for spearing. Western comes in just one point ahead of York for third place in the OUA West. The men’s team will then head to Guelph on Saturday night to take on the Gryphons. This will be the second meeting in a month between the Gryphs and the Stangs, with Western winning 4-1 on January 4^th in London.

Basketball

The Mustangs basketball teams will be staying at home this weekend as they continue their homestand with another set of back-to-backs.

On Friday, the Waterloo Warriors are in town. The women’s Mustangs team will be looking to draw even with Waterloo in the standings, trailing the Warriors by just one win. Western has won two games in a row since their seniors Julia Curran and Maddy Horst have returned from injury. The Warriors come in losing four of their last five games, most recently on Wedesday night in Windsor 72-50.

The men’s team will be hoping to extend a five-game winning streak against the Warriors, who come in on a five-game losing streak of their own. Western has been strong this season, using their defence to transition quickly into offence, as they lead the OUA in steals per game. The Warriors will be looking to the likes of their top scorers Nedim Hodzic (19.8 ppg) and Simon Petrov (17.3 ppg), to contribute to their offence which is ranked 13^th in the OUA with 73.7 ppg.

On Saturday, the Guelph Gryphons will be in town, whose women’s team has a 5-10 record coming into play, just recently snapping a seven-game losing streak against Brock. The Gryphons men’s team is 6-9 and have dropped their past two games. This weekend’s play for the hoop squads see favourable matchups for them as the women’s team tries to fight their way back into the playoff conversation, while the men’s team looks to stay atop the OUA West division. Tip-offs are at 6 & 8pm at Alumni Hall for the women and men, respectively on both Friday and Saturday night.