Ridgebacks can't stop a stampede in London

OUA Men's Hockey: Western defeated UOIT 7-2

LONDON, Ont. - The No. 10 ranked Western Mustangs men's hockey team earned their sixth win of the season as they defeated the UOIT Ridgebacks by a score of 7-2 on home ice Saturday night.

Western scored two goals in each of the first two periods and closed out the game with three more in the third as they put up their best offensive performance of the season.

Making his first start in net for UOIT, Jake Rattie (Niagara Falls, Ont.) allowed four goals on 20 shots in 26 minutes of play. Rattie would end up being pulled for Colin Dzijacky (Thunder Bay, Ont.), who allowed three third period goals while making 13 saves.

Down 4-0 in the second period, the Ridgebacks scored two power play goals less than a minute apart to cut the Western lead in half. In the third period, Western made sure that UOIT would not get any closer as they scored two minutes into the frame and added two others to secure the 7-2 victory.

UOIT blueliner Jake Logan of Napanee registered his first goal of season while Mitch Bennett (Fenelon Falls, Ont.) scored the other in the loss. Matt Pasztor (Langton, Ont.), Kevin George (Uxbridge, Ont.) and Matt Salituro (Toronto, Ont.) would add assists on the Ridgeback goals.

Daniel Elrich, who is league's leading scorer, tallied four assists to bring his point total to 20 in nine games.

Matt Clarke had a two-goal performance for the Mustangs and Adam Stoykewych, Matt Marantz, Zach Harnden, Luke Karaim and Stefan Salituro all scored singles.

Fifth-year Western senior Josh Unice made 26 saves in net for his fourth win of the season.

UOIT would finish 2-for-5 on the power play while Western went 1-for-6. Western outshot the Ridgebacks 36-28.

The Ridgebacks have dropped two straight games where they were outscored 12-3. UOIT falls to 3-6-1 in conference action and Western improves to 6-3-0.

UOIT will remain on the road on Saturday afternoon as they take on the Guelph Gryphons. Guelph is 5-5-1 after losing 4-3 to Queen's in overtime Friday night.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 3-12-1
Conference Record: 3-6-1

Next Game: Sat. Nov. 16 @ Guelph

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