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…but blank Badgers

October 19, 2011
By Renee Tamming

The Western Mustangs were looking for their first win of the season after losing their first three games, and certainly got it, defeating the Brock Badgers 3-0 on Saturday, October 15.

The seventh-place Mustangs were apprehensive about facing off against the second-place Badgers, and Mustangs head coach Chris Higgins did not deny his anxiety.

“I was nervous as hell. We lost three games that probably deserved a better fate, and I just thought that if we lose a fourth one, that’s going to be awful,” Higgins said.

The Mustangs proved to him that they could take care of business.

Though their first period seemed shaky at times as the Badgers controlled the play, the Mustangs relied on starting goaltender Kelly Campbell who was at the top of her game. Able to stop all shots that came her way, Campbell was instrumental in killing off a key 5-on-3 power play for the Badgers.

“We tried to keep it on the outside, and didn’t let it get in the middle. Just block every opportunity they can get,” Campbell said.

Campbell stopped a total of 38 shots for her first shutout of the year.  Her efforts did not go unnoticed, gathering praise from teammates and opponents alike.

“They did a great job of not giving up when we were all over them in the first. They kept working hard and their goalie played awesome,” Jim Denham, the Badgers’ head coach, said of the Mustangs.

In the second period the Mustangs finally took control of the game and their hard work came to fruition with goals from Marianne Filson and Katie Dillon within three minutes of each other.

Late in the third period, the Badgers took two penalties, a holding call and hit to the head. Madison Turk was able to capitalize on the advantage, pushing one past the glove of the Badgers’ goalie,  to bring the final score to 3-0.

Coach Higgins was especially proud of his team’s efforts knowing exactly how bad the team needed this win.

“The motivation’s there, [. . .] and we’ve played some really tough games.  This is really good for us,” he said.

Campbell picked up the first star of the game for her shutout, Dillon the second for her game-winning goal, and the third star went to Goalie Chantel Bicket of Brock, who was able to stop 30 of the 33 shots she faced.

Looking ahead, the Mustangs take on the fourth-ranked Queen’s Gaels next on October 21 at Kingston’s Memorial Centre and the Mustangs’ next home game will pit them against the York Lions on November 4.

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