Photo Courtesy: Nav Mohan - 94.9 Radio Western

GOJHL

The London Nationals suffered their second straight loss on Sunday, falling 6-2 to the LaSalle Vipers on Sunday. The Vipers nearly scored five goals in five different ways much like Mario Lemieux did, as they had a powerplay, shorthanded, even strength and empty net goal. They would have completed the feat had Evan Ferguson not missed a penalty shot attempt in the second. The Nats will look to rebound Wednesday night when they host the Sarnia Legionnaires in their lone game of the week.

The St. Thomas Stars suffered back-to-back one-goal losses over the weekend, first losing a heartbreaker to Leamington on Friday. The game was tied 3-3 late in the third period until the Legionnaires’ Adam Jeffrey would notch his second of the night with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to win it for Sarnia. On Saturday, the Stars fell 3-2 to the Komoka Kings, with the game-winning goal coming a little earlier in the game, just a minute into the third period. The Stars will host the St. Mary’s Lincolns on Friday.

The Komoka Kings continued their climb up the standings, decisively winning 5-1 over Strathroy on Sunday, with two-point nights from Dario Beljo (1g, 1a) and Ryan McAllister (2a). The Kings are now winners of six of their last seven games, and are approaching the fifth spot, trailing LaSalle by three points while holding a game in hand. Their next tilt will be Tuesday night, after being rescheduled from January 19^th  due to weather.

Western Mustangs

Hockey
It was a marquee matchup at Thompson Arena on Friday evening as your Western Mustangs men’s hockey team were taking on the Ryerson Rams in an OUA West divisional battle. The Mustangs were able to jump out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Spenser Cobbold, and Kyle Langdon. Langdon’s was the first of his OUA career. The score would remain that way until the third period, where the OUA’s top two scorers went to work. Second leading scorer Matt Santos of the Rams would get his team on the board early in the third period on a 5 on 3. He would score his second of the night midway thru the period, although it was credited to his teammate Greg Di Tomaso. All signs were pointing to overtime, until Santos set up the league’s leading scorer Matt Mistele who tapped it home with just one second remaining in regulation to steal the win from the Mustangs. The Mustangs would get some redemption on the quick turnaround against Laurier on Saturday afternoon, as they were able to topple the Golden Hawks 5-3. Ethan Szypula had two goals and an assist while Trevor Warnaar would record three helpers in the win. The Stangs will be back in Waterloo this weekend with games against the Warriors and the Golden Hawks again.

The women’s team were on a Northern Ontario road trip this past weekend with games at Nipissing and Laurentian. The Mustangs were able to sweep the season series against the Nipissing Lakers on Friday with a 3-1 final. April Clark picked up her league-leading 18th goal of the season while Hannah Irwin scored her first-career OUA goal. The ladies would fall victim to the travel on Saturday though against the lowly Laurentian Voyageurs, losing 2-1. The women’s team is exactly where they were before the weekend, holding the second spot in the OUA, three points back of Guelph. They will take on those Gryphons though on Saturday in what is arguably the biggest game of the year so far.

Basketball

The Mustangs basketball teams were on the road this past weekend. It was the bi-annual trip up to Thunder Bay for a back-to-back set against the Lakehead Thunderwolves. The Mustangs had to travel over 1300 kilometres to take on the Thunderwolves. The four games played between the two programs resulted in four Lakehead victories. Western’s women’s team fell victim to absurd shooting on the part of the Thunderwolves on Friday, as Lakehead shot 45% from the field in a 97-60 blowout. Saturday’s game would be a little closer, with Lakehead edging the Stangs 65-52 with four of the five T-Wolves’ starters recording double-digit point totals.  The men’s team would lose a heartbreaker to Lakehead in their first meeting, 85-84 after a game-winning three ball from Jared Kreiner with 14 seconds left. The next night would see the Mustangs struggle from the field, hitting just 40% of their shots in a 79-73 loss. Omar Shiddo continued his strong play with a 26-point effort, but it wasn’t enough to prevent back to back losses from Western for just the second time this season. They will look to get back on the horse, pun intended, on Wednesday evening as the Laurier Golden Hawks come to town.

Volleyball

The Mustangs volleyball teams resumed their schedules on Friday after not playing since January 13th. They were hosting the Trent Excalibur, who had a combined one win between their men’s and women’s teams (the women were the ones with the win). The Excalibur volleyball program would remain at just one win on the season after Friday, as both Mustangs teams handled their opponents easily in three sets. The women’s team will be right back at it this weekend as they host the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s tilt will be a special School Day game, so note the 11:30am start time from Alumni Hall. The men won’t be in action again until February 8th when they host the Windsor Lancers.

Wrestling

 Saturday afternoon saw Alumni Hall’s beautiful hardwood floors get covered by the colourful mats of wrestling as it was home to the Ontario Junior Wrestling Championship. It was the first of two events being held at Western over the weekend. The top performer on Saturday from the purple & white was Ella Doornaert, who was able to place in second in the women’s 57kg division. Other notable finishes for the Mustangs in the Junior Championship include Hunter Tandy, who was able to finish in third in the men’s 79kg division, and Jennifer Nwamadi, who was able to survive a marathon of a match that she ended up winning with a whopping 21-14 score.

Sunday’s Western Open was a tournament that has been running annually for over 50 years. Only 10 Western wrestlers competed in their home tournament as many of the top wrestlers on the team elected to sit out this weekend in order to preserve themselves for the OUA Championship. For some of those who did compete, it may be their last taste of action of the season while others are relishing the final tune-up as a chance to perfect their technique before provincials. The top performer from the purple and white during the Western Open was Christine Grafe, who placed second in the women’s 48kg division. Her opening round match saw her beat U of T’s Alina Khan via a technical fall. Her second bout was a 10-6 decision over Cassandra Rufenach from McMaster, which she followed up with another tight decision in the third round 3-1 against Sarah Hein from Brock. The wear and tear from her last two marathon matches unfortunately caught up with Grafe, as she was defeated 10-0 in the championship by Concordia’s Kaleigh Prieur. The Mustangs will head to the OUA Championships this weekend on February 1st and 2nd hosted by the Guelph Gryphons.