Photo Courtesy - Nav Mohan, 94.9 Radio Western

GOJHL

The London Nationals were foiled in their attempt to get back atop the GOJHL Western Conference standings, falling 2-1 to the St. Thomas Stars on Wednesday evening. The Stars had a 2-0 lead in the third period, with George Diaco picking up a powerplay goal with his net empty, but that was as close as the Nats would get. London will play their final regular season game on Saturday when they host the St. Mary’s Lincolns.

The Stars also have one more regular season game to play, readying themselves for the Sarnia Legionnaires to come to town on Sunday. The Stars will go into the playoffs as the seventh seed, set to play London in the first round.

The Komoka Kings continued their 80s-style of play on Wednesday, winning an 8-5 barn-burner in LaSalle against the Vipers. Blake McConnell-Barker would account for half his team’s goals, finishing with four goals and an assist, while fellow King Jacob Rochford had four assists. Over their past three games, the Kings have scored 17 goals. They will have the sixth seed heading into playoffs, hosting the Leamington Flyers to close out the regular season on Saturday.

Western Mustangs

Hockey

The Western Mustangs men’s hockey team is looking to end their series against the Brock Badgers on Friday night at Thompson Arena. The Mustangs seized a 1-0 series lead on Wednesday evening in St. Catharines, scoring two unanswered goals in the third period to win 3-2. Spenser Cobbold, Kyle Petit and Cordell James all scored for Western, with Luke Peressini making 27 saves in the Mustangs’ third straight playoff win. Western took both of the teams’ regular season meetings, but Brock did win 1-0 in the preseason. The Badgers are coming off a Queen’s Cup silver medal last season, advancing out of the West as the fifth seed. Western is looking to advance to their first OUA Western Conference finals since 2016, a year which took them all the way to the National Championship tournament. Puck drop for Game #2 of the OUA West Semifinals will be at 7pm on Friday from Thompson Arena.

The women’s team also find themselves with an opportunity to win their playoff series this weekend, after going up 1-0 on the Waterloo Warriors on Wednesday night, winning 3-2. The Mustangs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Wednesday, with Evra Levesque and Catherine O’Connor scoring just 23 seconds apart in the opening five minutes of the first period. The Warriors would make it a one-goal game later in the first period with a goal from Cynthia Cavanagh. Beatrice Dufour would put the Mustangs up for good in the second period, jumping in from the blueline to score a nice goal. Game #2 of the series will go on Saturday afternoon at Columbia Ice Fields in Waterloo. Western has not lost an OUA playoff game since 2016—in Waterloo against the Warriors.

Basketball

The Western Mustangs men’s basketball team is preparing the OUA quarterfinals as they will be hosting the Brock Badgers on Saturday afternoon. The Mustangs took both regular season meetings against Brock. The first meeting saw Omar Shiddo hit a game-winning three in the final minute of the game to give the Mustangs an 80-75 win in early January. Then, a couple of weeks ago, the two teams went to overtime in St. Catharine’s that saw the Mustangs come away with a 96-91 victory. Omar Shiddo scored a combined 57 points in those two games against Brock, with the Brampton native finishing the regular season as the third-highest scorer averaging over 21 points per game. Johneil Simpson of the Badgers finished as the fourth-leading scorer averaging over 20 points per game, and he scored a combined 24 points in the two games against Western, with a six-point performance in the second meeting. The Badgers are coming off a win already in the post-season, eliminating the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Wednesday evening 87-83. Simpson had 23 points, while teammate Cassidy Ryan scored a team-high 26 points on 10-26 shooting and nine rebounds. Tipoff for the OUA quarterfinals will be at 2pm on Saturday from Alumni Hall.

Volleyball

The Mustangs volleyball teams will close out their regular season schedules with a pair of home games this weekend. On Friday, they will host the Waterloo Warriors. For the women, the Warriors are the top team in the OUA West, leading the division with a 16-1 record. Their lone loss came just two games ago to the Ryerson Rams. The women’s Mustangs team is on a tear to close out the regular season, winning their six matches in a row, losing just three sets in that stretch. They have already clinched their playoff spot with their 12-5 record. The men’s Mustangs team is on a winning streak of their own, taking their last four matches, dropping just one set in the process. The Warriors men’s team is 6-9 this season, sitting second-to-last in the West division. Saturday’s matches will be against the Guelph Gryphons, and the final game of the regular season. The women Gryphons are out of the playoff picture at 8-9, while their men’s team is 8-7. Matches will start at 6pm and 8pm for the women and men, respectively, all from Alumni Hall.

Wrestling

The Mustangs wrestling teams are competing in the U Sports National Championship this weekend in Calgary, Alberta. Western will have seven wrestlers in the competition, all of whom won medals at the OUA Championships in Guelph earlier this month.

Swimming

The Mustangs swimming team is also competing in their National Championships this weekend in Vancouver. Charis Huddle has already won the 50m freestyle gold medal, while Matthew Loewen got himself a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke. Western finished in eighth at last year’s event.