Lakers hand Mustangs second straight loss in OUA.tv Marquee Matchup
LONDON, Ont. – Western dropped its second game of the weekend on Saturday night, falling to the Nipissing Lakers by a score of 3-2 at Thompson Arena.
LONDON, Ont. – Western dropped its second game of the weekend on Saturday night, falling to the Nipissing Lakers by a score of 3-2 at Thompson Arena.
Lindsay Kirkham and Britanny Clapham scored the two goals for the Mustangs while goaltender Katie Jacobs made 24 saves.
The loss drops the Mustangs to 10-1-6-0 on the season.
"A lot better effort tonight," said Mustang head coach David Barrett. "But we need to be a little more structured and organized in our play."
Kaley Tienhaara opened the scoring only one minute into the first period, driving the puck wide and toe dragging before sneaking the puck past Jacobs to give Nipissing the early lead.
The Mustangs replied on the power play several minutes later. After Katleyn Gosling collected a Laker clearing attempt, she hammered a shot that was stopped by sprawling Laker goaltender Sabrina Picard. Fortunately, Kirkham was there on the doorstep to jab home the rebound and tie the game at ones.
The first period needed with the game still tied at 1-1. The Mustangs outshot the Lakers in the first period by a 13 to 12 margin.
A Laker penalty at the 20:00 minute mark of the first period afforded the Mustangs a power play to open the second. Clapham found space alone in the slot and Amanda Pereira found her with a pass from behind the net. Clapham wristed a shot on net and it squeaked through Picard to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead.
Unfortunately, the Mustangs then gave up two unanswered goals in the second period that gave the Lakers the 3-2 lead.
In the third period the Mustangs controlled the balance of the play. Western swarmed the net and fired 12 shots but couldn't find a way to beat Picard. The Lakers blocked several shot attempts and Picard made a handful of outstanding saves.
"She gets full value for the victory tonight." said Barrett of Nipissing's backstop.
The Mustangs will need to take this week of practice to improve upon their game going into a critical two game weekend against Toronto and Ryerson in Toronto.
"We need to stick to ours systems so that we are playing as a five man unit and not as five individuals running around," said Barrett. "When people start to run out of position it starts to create gaps in our defense."
Source: Western Mustangs
