Photo Courtesy: Nav Mohan - 94.9 Radio Western

GOJHL

The London Nationals clinched a playoff spot on Wednesday with a decisive 9-3 victory over the Sarnia Legionnaires. London’s top line of Christian Polillo, Riley MacRae and Cal Davis combined for 13 points on the evening. Polillo had a goal and two assists, MacRae had a goal and three helpers, with Cal Davis furthering his lead on his team’s scoring race with a six-point night, recording a hat trick and three assists. Davis now has 71 points on the season, which is fifth in the GOJHL scoring race and tops in the Western Conference. The Nats won’t be in action again until Wednesday when they host St. Mary’s.

The St. Thomas Stars have just one game this weekend as they host the St. Mary’s Lincolns tonight. The Lincolns and the Stars are the bottom two teams in the GOJHL West. The Stars won’t be in action again until next Friday when they host the London Nationals.

The Komoka Kings were in action last night, falling to the Leamington Flyers 4-3. The Kings would lead 2-1 after the first period but would give up three unanswered in the second which would prove to be the difference. The Flyers clinched a playoff spot with the win. Komoka will be in action again on Saturday when they host the Chatham Maroons.

Western Mustangs

Hockey

The Mustangs women’s hockey team has just one game this weekend, but it is arguably their biggest game of the year as they are hosting the only team ahead of them in the OUA Standings: the Guelph Gryphons. Guelph sits in first place with a 14-2-1-2 record—three points ahead of Western. The last time these two teams met saw the Gryphons blank the Mustangs 2-0 in Guelph on November 3^rd. The Mustangs have won four of their last six games, while Guelph has won five games in a row. A win would temporarily tie the two teams atop the OUA, which could be huge come playoff time as they would likely not meet again until the McCaw Cup Finals should they both reach it that far. The action starts at 7pm on Saturday from Thompson Arena.

The men’s team will be facing both Waterloo teams this weekend, first taking on the Waterloo Warriors at Columbia Ice Fields on Friday. The Mustangs have taken both prior meetings with the Warriors both by 4-3 scores. Western is looking to continue the momentum they gained against the Golden Hawks when they beat them 5-3 on Saturday. On Saturday, the purple and white will take on the purple and gold again as the Golden Hawks and the Mustangs play each other for the second time in seven days. Waterloo is dead last in the OUA West while Laurier is fighting for playoff positioning currently holding down the sixth spot. The Mustangs are third in the OUA West right now with 29 points, three ahead of fourth-place York.

Basketball

The Mustangs basketball teams were looking to rebound after a tough Northern Ontario road trip that saw them come away from Thunder Bay winless in their four total games against the Lakehead Thunderwolves. They hosted the Laurier Golden Hawks on Wednesday evening for Bell Let’s Talk Day.

The women’s team were looking to take the season series over the Golden Hawks, beating the 68-65 in late October. The Mustangs came out to a good start in the first quarter leading 19-10 but would soon relinquish the lead and ultimately lost 61-54. The Golden Hawks’ Brianna Ianazzo was the leading scorer in the game with 14 points, including eight in the second half which aided her tam in getting back into the game.

The men’s team didn’t fare any better against their visitors from Waterloo, as they would lose a tough game 92-83. Laurier came firing out of the gate, hitting many shots that would give them an early 34-24 lead after the first quarter. Western would win the second and third quarters, but a 20-point second half from Golden Hawks’ leading scorer Ali Sow buried the Mustangs in the fourth quarter.

It was the third straight loss for both Mustangs teams, and the road isn’t any easier as they have tough matchups against McMaster on the weekend in Hamilton.

Volleyball

The Mustangs women’s volleyball team is in action this weekend without their male counterparts, as the Lakehead Thunderwolves were in town for a back-to-back (Lakehead does not have a men’s team). Friday’s match was an early 11:30am start time for the annual School Day Game. 1200 London-area schoolchildren packed Alumni Hall to watch the Mustangs handle the Thunderwolves in three straight sets. The two will do battle again on Saturday afternoon, as the Mustangs look to climb the OUA West Standings as they were tied for fourth coming into the weekend.