Western shuts out Windsor 2-0 for second consecutive win

LONDON, Ont. – A pair of goals from Braeden Gee and Parker Seymour led the Western Mustangs to a 2-0 win over the Windsor Lancers on Wednesday night at Mustangs Field.
 
"A couple of nice goals, I'm very pleased with the first half," said Mustangs head coach Rock Basacco. "A little work to do with the second half, we tended to let up a little bit and just sat on that one goal lead, which is not really what we should be doing. But, credit to the guys, they played really well tonight."
 
The win is Western's second consecutive victory, and moves the Mustangs' record to 2-1-0, good for a tie for first place in the OUA West standings. The loss gives the Lancers an 0-2-1 record, leaving them tied for sixth in the West early in the season.
 
Gee's first half goal was his second marker of the year, placing the first-year striker atop the Mustangs leaderboard three games into the season. Seymour's goal, his first of the year, came late in the second half as a result of a highlight reel finish.
 
Western had a couple of chances early on, with Lucas Ventura sending a shot wide right eight minutes into the contest, and Jeremy Arnold followed up with a chance of his own seven minutes later.
 
The Lancers had the best scoring chance of the first 20 minutes, after a cross to Jamar Redhead was headed toward the Mustangs net before it was blocked in front and cleared.
 
Gee broke the deadlock late in the first half, when Seymour sent a cross across the box, where Gee headed the ball off the far post and into the back of the Lancers net to give Western a 1-0 lead.
 
"He's a good player," said Seymour of his first year teammate. "Obviously you can see he scores goals, a big striker who gets his head on things. He's fit into the OUA style very well. It's a high-risk, high-reward position and he's been doing well and gotten some key goals for us."
 
After controlling much of the play in the first, the action was more even in the second half, with the Mustangs only holding a 4-3 edge in shots over the Lancers.
 
Neither team was able to solve the other throughout the half until the 86th minute when Seymour corralled a long pass, moved past a Windsor defender and slid the ball past Lancers keeper Kyle Vizirakis and into the net to give Western a 2-0 win.
 
"In the first half it just seemed like we had control of the ball, we possessed it, we moved it, we sort of dictated the play," said Basacco. "But in the second half we just were a little more cautious, and when you're more cautious you're not as free on the ball. Credit to Windsor they picked up the pace a little bit and came back to try and get that goal to even up the game."
 
Despite playing three games in five days, the Mustangs still have two more games on the books this week, with the Algoma Thunderbirds coming to town on Saturday and Sunday. The Thunderbirds, now playing in their third season in the OUA, have yet to defeat Western in four games, but coach Basacco has a few things his team will need to work on heading into this weekend.
 
"It's keeping that composure heading into the second half, and being able to play the same way that we did in the first half in holding the ball, moving it around, and waiting for the right opportunity to go forward as opposed to forcing it, which is what I think we did a bit too much in the second half."
 
Seymour echoed his coach's comments about consistency being important for this weekend's games.
 
"They key for the weekend is to keep the same level of intensity in our play both offensively and defensively that we've shown in our past two games. We can't get complacent, we have to stick in and take our game to the next level, especially against a team like Algoma."
 
The first of Western's two games against Algoma is set for Saturday afternoon at 3:15 p.m., while Sunday's matchup is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Both games will take place at Mustangs Field.

Source: Western Mustangs