Gameday in 5

A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (Oct. 3-10) — for London’s teams and athletes.

The Western Mustangs’ men’s and women’s tennis teams both won OUA championships last weekend in Toronto. (Photo: Ontario University Athletics).

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Western Mustangs

The Mustangs’ football team put up another dominant performance last Friday, beating the University of Toronto, 56-21, at Varsity Stadium, improving to 6-0 on the season in the process. Once again, Western delivered a strong overall offensive performance, putting up 49 points before allowing Toronto to get on the board. Running back Edouard Wanadi had 213 yards rushing and four touchdowns, while his fellow back, Keon Edwards, logged 139 yards on the ground and scored a pair of touchdowns of his own. Quarterback Evan Hillock completed 10 of his 17 pass attempts for 143 yards and a touchdown (a 22-yard strike to Savaughn Magnaye-Jones. Wide receiver Seth Robertson, meanwhile, had five catches for 87 yards on the night.

Up next:

Sat. Oct. 15 (1:00pm vs. Windsor Lancers)

OUA Tennis

Both the men’s and women’s Mustangs tennis teams won OUA championships last weekend in Toronto. For the men, it was their fourth straight provincial title (and fifth in the last six years). On the men’s side, Western faced the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in the gold medal match, and it was one to remember. Thanks to singles match wins by Ashton Cross, Ray Xie and Aidan Zia, the Mustangs put themselves in a position to claim the OUA title — but it wouldn’t be easy. In the deciding match number six, Ethan Milavsky won a thrilling 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 match to send Western home champs for the fourth straight season.

On the women’s side, the championships also featured a battle between the Mustangs and Varsity Blues. Toronto won the doubles portion, but Western worked their magic in singles play, with Lauryn Son, Grace Whitley and Anna Mockovciak claiming wins. Carley Citron clinched the win for Western with a 7-5, 7-6 win over U of T’s Andrea Kuntjoro to give the Mustangs their first OUA title since 2018. Award winners for Western included:

Men’s Rookie of the Year: Aidan Zia
Women’s Rookie of the Year: Lauryn Son
Men’s All-Stars: Glenn Brisbois, Ethan Milavsky
Women’s All-Stars: Justine Bryson, Grace Whitley
Men’s Coach of the Year: Cameron Cross & Anthony Glavanic
Women’s Coach of the Year: Chantal Forristal & Maciek Gebczynski

London Knights

The Knights continued their struggles to score to open the new season, and they dropped a pair of games last week. The first was a tough 1-0 loss to the Soo Greyhounds on Friday at Budweiser Gardens. The visitors scored the only goal of the game in the first period and never looked back. Greyhounds goaltender Charlie SSchenkel flummoxed the Knights, stopping all 35 shots he faced for the shutout win. London goalie Brett Brochu stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced.

The Knights’ offense didn’t fare much better Saturday in a 3-1 losing effort against the Erie Otters across the border. The Otters came out strong in the first period, scoring the icebreaker just after the 2-minute mark of the opening frame. After the Otters doubled their lead, the Knights responded, with Sean McGurn scoring the team’s lone goal (assists to Landon Sim and Denver Barkey). The Otters scored their 3rd goal of the game late in the second period and never looked back, shutting the Knights out over the final two periods.

Up next:

The Knights (0-3) will look to break into the win column this weekend, beginning with a game against Mississauga at home Friday.

Fri. Oct. 14 (7:00pm vs. Mississauga Steelheads)
Sun. Oct. 16 (2:00pm @ Hamilton Bulldogs)

London Nationals

The Nationals split their two games last week, giving them a 7-1-0-1 record to begin a new week. In a close game on Wednesday, London beat the Strathroy Rockets, 5-4, in overtime. The Nationals got off to a slow start, but after going down 1-0 after the first they picked it up in the second. Jacob Julien tied the game at 1 with a power play goal early in the period. Riley Wood and Talan Palmer then scored to put the Nats up 3-1. The Rockets fought back, though, adding a late goal in the second and another at the 7-minute mark of the third to tie the game again. Sam O’Reilly put the Nationals ahead 4-3, but the Rockets scored just three minutes later to force overtime. The extra frame was short-lived, as Julien scored the game-winner just 26 seconds in, assisted by Owen McGowan and O’Reilly.

After a close game Wednesday, the Nationals lost 8-3 to the Leamington Flyers the following night on the road. London found themselves down 6-0 by the start of the third period before scoring their first goal. Sam O’Reilly got the team on the board with his 6th of the season, and Lucas Chard followed up shortly after with a power play goal. Logan Pace-Roth scored the third Nationals goal on the night in the lopsided loss.

Up next:

Wed. Oct. 12 (7:00pm vs. St. Thomas Stars)
Thurs. Oct. 13 (7:10pm @ Sarnia Legionnaires)