Mustangs eye playoffs; Knights win pair; Lightning signings

Gameday in 5: A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (Oct. 7-13) — for London’s teams and athletes.

Keanu Yazbeck had one of three touchdowns on the ground during the Western Mustangs' dominant 61-6 road win last Friday against the University of Toronto. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

* * *

Western Mustangs

The Mustangs logged 443 yards of offense and scored seven touchdowns on the way to a lopsided 61-6 road win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues last Friday night.

A Keanu Yazbeck 8-yard touchdown run in the first quarter ignited the offense, which found the endzone again before the end of the first quarter on a 9-yard catch from Seth Robertson. The Mustangs continued to pour it on in the second, adding a second field goal and three more touchdowns (Mohsen Jamal II, Brayden Misseri, Jerome Rancourt) to take a dominant 41-0 lead at the half.

Toronto got on the board in the third with two field goals, but that’s all the scoring they managed, as the Mustangs piled up some more points in the second half to cruise to the win. Quarterback Evan Hillock completed 18 of his 26 pass attempts for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Jamal had six catches for 79 yards and a score to lead Western receivers. Hillock completes passes to seven different players.

On the ground, Ethan Dolby rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown score on eight carries. Six different players contributed to a total of 185 net yards rushing in the win.

Western is now 6-1 on the season, one game behind Laurier (7-0) for top spot in the OUA standings. Because the Mustangs lost to Laurier earlier in the season, the best they can finish is second. If they were to lose to Windsor, the Lancers would then take second and Western would be the No. 3 seed heading into the playoffs.

Up next:

Sat. Oct. 19 (1:00pm vs. Windsor Lancers)

London Knights

The Knights (4-3-0-0) had a highly successful week, winning all three of their games to bounce back from a slow start to the 2024-25 OHL season. With all of their players back from NHL camps (including Easton Cowan, Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey), London beat Owen Sound on the road, 5-4 in overtime, last Wednesday to start their strong week.

Down 2-0 in the first period, London responded with Cowan scoring a short-handed goal just after the 9-minute mark. Seven minutes later, Blake Arrowsmith tied the game with his third goal of the year. Continuing their momentum into the second, Bonk gave London the lead at the 2:05 mark — though it was short-lived, as the Attack responded less than a minute later. With the teams deadlocked to start the third, Sam Dickinson’s early power-play marker put the Knights ahead, but with the clock winding down, a late Attack power play led to a game-tying goal, forcing overtime. The extra frame lasted all of 58 seconds, though, with the Knights’ Sam O’Reilly scoring the game winner.

Riding their momentum into Friday, the Knights earned an impressive come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Barrie Colts at the newly renamed Canada Life Place (formerly Budweiser Gardens). After a fairly quiet first period, Sam Dickinson scored the icebreaker for the Knights in the final minute of the first. After two short-handed goals, the Colts led 4-2 early in the third period. But the Knights came roaring back, scoring three unanswered — in two and a half minutes — to earn the comeback win. Dickinson scored two power-play goals in 16 seconds to tie the game and complete a hat trick. Evan Van Gorp then played the hero, scoring the eventual game-winner at the 15:29 mark.

After two close games, the Knights beat up on the Guelph Storm, 5-1, on Saturday to complete a perfect 3-0 week. Ahead 1-0 on a late first-period goal by William Nicholl, London got the eventual goal (courtesy PJ Fagan II) 6:34 into the second period. Guelph’s lone goal came on the powerplay at the 15-minute mark of the frame. Nicholl ended the second with his second of the game to ensure the victory, while Easton Cowan and Evan Van Gorp both added goals in the third to secure the win. Goalie Owen Willmore claimed his first win of the season, stopping 26 of 27 shots in the contest. 

Up next:

Fri. Oct. 18 (7:00pm vs. Saginaw Spirit)
Sun. Oct. 20 (2:00pm vs. Erie Otters)

London Lightning

With their season tipping off in just five weeks, the London Lightning are busy assembling the roster for the 2024-25 campaign. Last week, they made their first moves, inking reigning Playoff MVP Chris Jones to a contract to return to the defending BSL champs. And they signed guard Omega Harris, formerly of the Newfoundland Rogues, where he was coached by new Lightning head coach Jerry Williams.

In 24 games last year, Jones averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists and was crucial to the Lightning claiming the first BSL title in league history. Harris, a 6-foot-2 point guard out of Bethany, Okla., averaged 12.7 PPG, alongside 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists, in 37 games. He finished among the league’s Top 10 in points (9th), steals (3rd), assists (3rd), offensive rebounds (7th), and field goals (9th).

The Lightning will tip off their season the third week of November. This year’s BSL, the league’s second season, will feature nine teams and more games. London will get 20 home contests alone. Stay tuned for a full schedule when it is released in the coming days.