Knights win streak at 9; Mustangs fall in Yates Cup; Lightning schedule released

Gameday in 5: A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (Nov. 4-10) — for London’s teams and athletes.

The Western Mustangs’ season came to an end Saturday after a 51-31 defeat at the hands of the Laurier Golden Hawks. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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London Knights

Make it nine in a row for the London Knights (13-4-0-0), whose slow start is now well in the rearview mirror as they now sport the highest winning percentage (.765) in the Western Conference entering a new week.

They won each of their three games last week, beginning with a midweek contest against the Soo Greyhounds. In a rematch of the previous Friday, the Knights won convincingly, 5-1, on the road. London outshot Sault Ste. Marie 43-13 in the one-sided affair, which featured goals from Easton Cowan (2), Landon Sim, Oliver Bonk and Sam Dickinson.

On Friday, at Canada Life Place, they made fairly easy work of the North Bay Battalion, powering themselves to a 6-2 win in front of a full house. Dickinson recorded a hat-trick in the contest, which saw the Knights build up a 5-0 lead midway through the second period. The Battalion got two back later in the frame, but it was too little, too late.

On Sunday, London made the trip to Guelph and played a high-scoring affair with the Storm at the Sleeman Centre. It was Guelph that jumped on the board first, scoring twice in the first minute of the contest. William Nicholl responded at 1:14, and then Henry Brzustewicz knotted things up at 6:45. And the scoring continued.

With London ahead 4-3 in the second, the teams exchanged goals until it was 6-6 midway through the third period. Then, Noah Reed put the Knights ahead at 13:39 with his second goal of the game (and second of his OHL career). That score held until the final minute when Easton Cowan notched an empty-net goal to extend his points streak to 47 games. Guelph got one back but lost by one. Evan Van Gorp and Jared Woolley also scored for London, while Brzustewicz notched a pair.

Up next:

Fri. Nov. 15 (7:00pm vs. Sarnia Sting)
Sun. Nov. 16 (4:07pm @ Guelph Storm)

Western Mustangs

The Mustangs finally met their match Saturday. Traveling to Waterloo to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks in the 116th Yates Cup, they were dealt a convincing 51-31 loss to the home side, thus ending their season and their journey to a spot in the Vanier Cup. Instead, the Golden Hawks will advance to this year’s Uteck Bowl national semi-final.

Things got off to a good start Saturday for the Mustangs. On just six plays, they drove 97 yards for the first score of the game. Keanu Yazbeck did the honours with a long 62-yard touchdown run. But Laurier responded in short order. Just two and a half minutes later, a 59-yard pass from Londoner Taylor Elgersma went for a score and tied things up. And that was just the beginning for Elgersma.

Two more passing touchdowns gave Laurier a 21-7 lead just 2:15 into the second quarter. A 3-yard running score pushed the advantage to 21 points with 5:15 left on the clock, but then the Mustangs came alive late in the half. Dormant for most of the first half, Western managed two touchdowns to bring themselves back into the game. Quarterback Evan Hillock connected with Mohsen Jamal II, and then Yazbeck ran in his second score of the game after a Laurier turnover to make it 28-21 at halftime.

Laurier would not be deterred, however, and they scored the first 17 points of the second half to put things out of reach for the Mustangs. From there, the Golden Hawks mostly ran the ball to run out the clock as Western tried to claw back into the contest. Brayden Misseri managed a late touchdown catch, but the Mustangs fell well short of making a comeback.

On the day, Hillock managed to complete 18 of 29 pass attempts for 323 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He didn’t throw an interception. Yazbeck was once again the leading rusher for Western, amassing 124 yards and a pair of scores on just nine carries. Keon Edwards had 62 yards on 10 carries. Both Misseri (five catches) and Seth Robertson (four catches) tallied 97 yards receiving. Kicker Brian Garrity knocked home a field goal.

The Golden Hawks will advance to the Uteck Bowl to play Bishop’s University, who beat St. Mary’s after three overtime quarters Saturday. Laval, who beat Montreal, will play the University of Regina in the other national semi-final, the Mitchell Bowl. The winners of those contests will face each other in the 2024 Vanier Cup.

London Lightning

The Basketball Super League released schedules for the upcoming 2024-25 season, and the Lightning are set for a 34-game regular campaign, including 20 home games at Canada Life Place. They’ll open the year on the road, Nov. 23, against the Sudbury Five, and suit up for their home opener Nov. 28 vs. Newfoundland.

This year’s season, the second in BSL history, will run through the end of March before playoffs begin for the eight-team league in April. Besides familiar opponents like Sudbury, Newfoundland, the KW Titans and Windsor Express, the league this year also features American opponents the Pontiac Pharaohs, Jamestown Jackals and Glass City Wranglers.

What are some schedule highlights? The first meeting between last year’s BSL Finals opponents will happen Dec. 11 when London travels to play the KW Titans; There won’t be an all-star game this year — or a North American Cup series; The Lightning will play eight of their first 11 games at home; Their longest road trip is only three games, from Dec. 30 to Jan. 4.