LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs regained the first place position in the OUA West Division with a 5-2 victory over the Windsor Lancers on Jan. 14 at Thompson Arena.
Western (16-2-2) started the game tied with Lakehead (16-4-0) at 32 points apiece, but with the win and a Thunderwolves loss to UOIT, the Mustangs lead the West with 34 points. Also with the win, Western improves to 10-0-0 at Thompson Arena as the only team in the OUA to be undefeated at home.
Keaton Turkiewicz, Jason Furlong, Kevin Baker, Tyler Peters and Zach Harden tallied for the Mustangs as Steve Ferry and Tom Craig scored for Windsor.
Windsor’s Matt McCready was called for a slashing penalty at 6:19 of the first period. Western’s powerplay, ranked first in the OUA, started pressuring the Lancers looking for the opening goal. Zach Harnden held the puck behind Windsor’s net before sliding a pass over to Kevin Baker in the corner. Baker centered a pass to Turkiewicz who one-timed a shot past Lancer’s netminder Parker Van Buskirk.
Only 13 seconds later, Furlong gained control of the puck in Windsor’s zone. Furlong beat the Lancer defender then deked around Van Buskirk,, adding Western’s second goal.
With just under two minutes left in the first period, Turkiewicz fired a shot at the Lancer’s net that missed just wide. The puck bounced off the end boards to the side of the net where Baker fired the shot into the back of the net past Van Buskirk who didn’t have enough time to react.
Turkiewicz is tied with George Lovatsis of Concordia for scoring with 16 goals each, but Turkiewicz continues to lead the CIS and OUA with 40 points overall. Head coach Clarke Singer commented on Turkiewicz’s play as a Mustang stating, “He’s really evolved as a player this year, he does a great job in all three zones. “ Singer recognized Turkiewicz’s success adding, “It’s very well deserved. He’s working very hard and he’s a big part of what we’re doing.”
Western started the second period without missing a beat as they attacked Lancer’s territory. Left winger Peters worked his way down low and managed to get a shot off as he was falling through the slot. Peters’ shot beat Van Buskirk at 1:43 in the second and Dan Savelli took over in net for Windsor.
Windsor continued to press as they charged the Western net on a 2-on-1. Mustangs defender Andrew Eastman slid to block the pass across but Lancer’s Ferry fired a shot on net instead. Ferry beat Unice through the legs for a score of 4-1.
Craig added Windsor’s second goal just over two minutes later. Unice stopped the Lancer’s initial shot but couldn’t get across to the other post in time to stop Craig.
Windsor’s netminder Savelli made 18 saves to hold Western scoreless through almost two full periods. Both teams continued to battle and Western had a goal disallowed with six minutes remaining in the game because of a high-stick.
Harnden added an empty-net goal for a 5-2 final.
Despite Western’s ranking in the OUA on the powerplay, the Mustangs went 1/6 on man-advantage opportunities. Singer noted the importance of man-advantage opportunities adding, “As you look at the playoffs…special teams is going to be a difference maker.”
Western held the Lancers scoreless on their six chances.
The Mustangs will travel to Thunder Bay next weekend for back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday night against the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
