Busy weekend for Mustangs

With the fall season winding down and the winter season starting up, many Mustangs teams will be in action this weekend.

The men’s and women’s rowing teams are participating in the Ontario University Athletics championships on Friday and Saturday at Brock University. Both teams have been very successful so far and will look to take the OUA banner back from Queen’s, who won both the men’s and women’s titles last year.

The men’s basketball team will open the weekend athletics for the Mustangs on Friday when they travel to Laval to play another pre-season match. They currently sport a 3-1 pre-season record and hope to remain hot leading into the season.

The women’s basketball team also travels to Laval to play in the Laval Invitational Tournament starting Friday. The women’s team will play three games against Saint Mary’s, Queen’s and Laval.

The baseball team will take their OUA championship to Nationals this weekend to play in the Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association National Tournament, which is being hosted at Durham College in Oshawa. They open Friday against St. Clair College at 11 a.m. and will finish the round robin against Concordia University and Cape Breton University on Saturday.

Saturday will also see the men’s football team (5-2) take on the struggling University of Toronto (1-6) at 1 p.m. at T.D. Waterhouse stadium. The Mustangs will look to avenge their loss against Queen’s last week with a big win over Toronto in hopes of solidifying a first round bye and hosting the semi-finals.

The women’s soccer team (6-6-0) will host Guelph (1-8-3) at Fanshawe College for a 1 p.m. start. The women will hope to jump into a tie with Brock for third place in the Western conference standings with a win over the eighth place Gryphons. The women also play York University (9-2-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at T.D. Waterhouse.

The men’s soccer team will also host Guelph at Fanshawe following the conclusion of the women’s game. The game will have a start time of 3:15 p.m. and will see Western make a modest attempt to jump into fifth place in the conference as they take their (3-5-4) record against the tough Gryphons (6-5-1) in what will likely be a tight battle. The men follow up on Sunday with a game against York University (8-2-2) at 3:15 p.m. at T.D. Waterhouse.

The women’s hockey team will lace them up against Toronto (1-1) at home in hopes of putting a win on the board this season. The women are currently 0-4 and sit in the cellar of the OUA. A win could put them into the middle of the pack. The women also take on York University (1-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Thompson arena.

The Mustangs women’s lacrosse team also plays a crop of games on the road starting Saturday that sees the Mustangs (7-3) go up against the Queen’s Gaels (6-3) for what promises to be a great match. The game starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday at Queen’s and will be an opportunity for the Mustangs to put a stranglehold on 2nd place in the conference. The women are also matched up against Guelph (0-7-1) in Kingston on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Mustangs badminton team will take their 1-0 record to McMaster for a 10 a.m. match. The season is fresh and the Mustangs look to put some distance between them and rival McMaster (0-1) as the historically strong Mustangs look to get off to a hot start.

The field hockey team travels east to McGill for a tournament this weekend. On Saturday the women will participate in a match-up that showcases a weak McGill (2-6-3) team taking on a much stronger Mustangs (6-3-2) squad who look to make a push for the top of the leader board. First thing Sunday morning, the women will face a strong University of Toronto team (7-1-3) before finishing the weekend against Queen’s (2-9-2).

Western’s water polo team goes to Queen’s this weekend to start the season. On Saturday, the ‘Stangs face off against the winless Gaels (0-1). The team will get an evening of rest and then take on York (0-0) and Carleton (2-1) on Sunday.

After a successful pre-season, the men’s volleyball team will look to start the regular season on the right foot. Playing at Ryerson, the men will hit the first serve of the 2009 season at 8 p.m. Saturday night, followed by a match against the University of Toronto on Sunday.

After a solid pre-season record of 2-1, and a win against Laurier to open the season, the women’s volleyball team will host the Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday at Alumni Hall. The match starts at 1 p.m.

The women’s rugby team is travelling to McMaster this Saturday for the OUA semi-finals. Western’s women’s rugby has won three of the last five OUA Championships, and will be looking to redeem themselves after losing to Guelph in last year’s gold medal match. A win against Mac on Saturday will send them to the championships once again.

The Mustang wrestling teams opened the season at a tournament hosted by the University of Toronto Open on Oct. 18. The women’s team finished first and the men came in third. Both groups will look to continue their strong form this Sunday as the wrestling team travels to Concordia to compete.