Knights split preseason pair; Western wins in capital; Beefs earn rout

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

The Knights split their first two preseason games vs. Sarnia last weekend, as Max McCue (pictured) notched the first goal of the new year. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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London Knights

The Knights dropped the puck for the time on the 2023-24 season with a pair of preseason games against Sarnia over the weekend. Opening their exhibition schedule at home Saturday, the Knights dropped a 3-2 decision to the Sting in front of 7,479 at Budweiser Gardens. London opened with a two-goal lead after the first period, with Max McCue and newcomer Kasper Halttunen putting the Knights ahead. But the Sting offense came to life in the second period, scoring three unanswered goals — including the game winner with 1:31 left in the period. Neither team scored in the third.

The Knights got their revenge on Sunday, flipping the script to beat Sarnia 3-2 on their own ice. After a scoreless first period, London opened the scoring for the second straight day, with Easton Cowan scoring on an odd-man rush after being released from the penalty box. Sam O’Reilly scored the Knights’ second goal on the power play, deflecting an Oliver Bonk shot into the net. And London didn’t stop there, as Ruslan Gazizov scored the team’s second power play goal 9:07 into the third period to make it 3-0. Sarnia made things interesting late, coming within a goal, but London weathered the storm to hold on for the win.

The Knights made a couple of trades last week, as the team sent Connor Federkow and Mike Levin to the Niagara IceDogs for a pair of 2025 draft picks. In a separate deal with the IceDogs, they also acquired Juan Copeland (and two 2026 draft picks) for overage player Ryan Humphrey and Mathieu Paris.

Up next:

The Knights return to preseason action Sept. 21 & 22 for a back-to-back against the Erie Otters, although both will be played locally. London’s first regular season game is set for Sept. 29 at home vs. Niagara.

Thurs. Sept. 21 (7:00pm @ Erie Otters) *To be played at Joe Thornton Community Centre in St. Thomas
Fri. Sept. 22 (7:00pm vs. Erie Otters)

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Western Mustangs Football

On the road in Ottawa, the Mustangs beat the Carleton Ravens 31-21 on Saturday to improve to 3-0 on the season. Wide receiver Seth Robertson was the story of the night, as he hauled in three touchdown passes from Western quarterback Evan Hillock — the first of which took place late in the first quarter to put the Mustangs up 7-0. After a strong start to the game, things went sideways in the second quarter, as Carleton scored two touchdowns and took a lead into halftime. The second Ravens touchdown was the result of a fumbled punt that put them in a position to score.

Down 14-10 to start the second half, Western’s offense surged in the third quarter, as Keanu Yazbeck exploded for an 81-yard touchdown run to restore the Mustangs’ lead — and then Hillock connected twice in a row with Robertson to put some distance on the Ravens. Yazbeck finished with 136 yards on just nine carries. Keon Edwards rushed for 143 yards on 24 carries. Hillock completed 19 of his 28 pass attempts for 254 yards and the three touchdown passes to Robertson, whose 97 yards receiving paced the Mustangs. Mohsen Jamal had six catches for 74 yards.

Up next:

The Mustangs (3-0) are back in action next weekend in Kingston to take on Queen’s. Then they’ll return home the following weekend for their annual Homecoming game Saturday, Sept. 23 (vs. Ottawa Gee-Gees).

Sat. Sept. 16 (3:00pm @ Queen’s Gaels)

London Beefeaters

After losing two straight to first-place St. Clair (including a nailbiter the previous weekend), the Beefeaters bounced back in a big way on Saturday, trouncing the Quinte Skyhawks 70-3 at City Wide Sports Park.

London amassed 471 yards on the ground — and another 63 yards in the air — in the convincing win, which improved their record to 3-2 in OFC play thus far. Up 21-0 after the first quarter, the Beefeaters never looked back, scoring a total of nine touchdowns and a pair of field goals. London was able to use its whole roster in the game, including getting three different quarterbacks action. Anthony Pinto started the contest, while Peter Burgess threw a touchdown pass and Damon Barrow tossed a pair of scores.

Geoffrey Clubine led all running backs with 160 yards and two touchdowns, while LJ Dyer ran for 144 yards and a pair of scores. Elijah Prosper (85 yards) also ran for two touchdowns in the contest. London’s passing scores went to Keegan Cardona, Trey Fakira and Brody Allison-Gawley. For the second straight week, defensive back Dylan Roberts was named OFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

Up next:

The Beefeaters (3-2) will next travel to Hamilton to play the Hurricanes on Sunday at Tim Hortons Field.

Sun. Sept. 17 (5:00pm @ Hamilton Hurricanes)

London Lightning

The London Lightning, as we reported last week, will join the newly formed Basketball Super League (BSL) for the 2023-2024 season. The BSL will include a combination of the four NBL Canada teams from last year, as well as teams from the U.S.-based The Basketball League (TBL).

Seven teams are signed on already, with a majority of the teams being based in Canada, including the London Lightning, KW Titans, Sudbury Five, Windsor Express and Newfoundland Rogues (St. John’s). Two additional teams are expected to be announced soon, one Canadian and one American. The hope is for the League to eventually expand to 24 teams, with two-thirds of them located in Canada.

This year’s schedule, which is expected to be announced next week, will have London play more regular season games then they did in past NBLC seasons. The biggest change for NBLC teams rules-wise will be the enforcement of a defensive three second rule, essentially eliminating zone defense.

The Lightning will be led into their inaugural BSL season by Doug Plumb who has led the team to two straight NBLC titles. This coming season will be his third behind the bench, and he’s looking forward to the new challenge.