With a 3-2 win over Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks on home ice March 7, The University of Western Ontario Mustangs men’s hockey team clinched the best-of-three OUA West Final series and advance to the national championships for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
“It’s a great feeling to beat a team as strong as Laurier,” says head coach Clarke Singer. “Defence, goaltending and special teams, I thought we did a good job in all those areas throughout the playoffs.”
“It was an outstanding effort and the atmosphere here you could feel the excitment in the building,” he adds. “We hope it’s even more packed for the Queen’s Cup.”
Western will host McGill in the OUA Queen’s Cup Final on Saturday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Thompson Arena.
Tickets will go on sale today (March 9) and can be purchased by calling 519-661-4077. Prices are $12 for adults, $8 for students, youth and seniors.
Mustangs men’s basketball
The University of Western Ontario men’s basketball team was no competition for Carleton’s defence March 7, losing 71-57 at the OUA Wilson Cup Final held at Alumni Hall.
Both teams had already qualified for the CIS national championship Final 8 tournament, to be held at the Scotiabank Place in Ottawa March 13-15.
The weekend game was simply a tune-up for both squads, with more than 1,100 fans in attendance.
The last Wilson Cup held March 10, 2001 at Alumni Hall featured the same two teams and assistant coach Matt Tweedie dressed in the purple and white. Eight years ago he netted 17 points in a 69-59 win over the Ravens.
The Western Mustangs were seeded No. 4 for the 2009 CIS Final 8 men’s basketball national tournament and will have a difficult path to a national title facing the No. 5 seeded Ottawa Gee-Gees on Friday, March 13.
“I’m very disappointed with the draw,” said Western head coach Bradley Campbell. “Looking at the draw we have a tough road ahead, but we’re up to the challenge. Playing Ottawa, we face a very good team and in their own back yard which is basically a home game for them.”
“And we would see a tough semifinal matchup if we get past Ottawa. If we win a national championship, it’s going to be earned,” Campbell said. “The way it’s set up, we can go to our national tournament and not even play a team from outside our region.”
The eight-team, single elimination tournament gets under way Friday, March 13 with the quarter-final round and concludes on Sunday, March 15 with the presentation of the national final at 4 p.m.
The Score Television Network will broadcast the last two first-round duels on Friday evening, including the Western-Ottawa game live at 6 p.m. The Carleton-St. FX quarter-final is on tape delay. The Score will also carry Saturday’s semi-finals and the gold-medal match on Sunday.
SEEDING
1. Carleton Ravens (OUA Wilson Cup and OUA East champions: 21-1 regular season, 3-0 playoffs)
2. Calgary Dinos (Canada West champions: 17-5 regular season, 4-0 playoffs)
3. UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West finalists: 21-2 regular season, 5-1 playoffs)
4. Western Mustangs (OUA West champion, OUA finalists: 19-3 regular season, 2-1 playoffs)
5. Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA bronze medalists: 19-3 regular season, 2-1 playoffs)
6. Dalhousie Tigers (AUS champions: 13-7 regular season, 3-0 playoffs)
7. Concordia Stingers (QSSF champions: 12-4 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)
8. StFX X-Men (Wildcard – AUS finalists: 17-3 regular season, 1-1 playoffs)
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, March 13
12:30 Quarterfinal #1: No. 2 Calgary vs. No. 7 Concordia
14:30 Quarterfinal #2: No. 3 UBC vs. No. 6 Dalhousie
18:00 Quarterfinal #3: No. 4 Western vs. No. 5 Ottawa (The Score)
20:00 Quarterfinal #4: No. 1 Carleton vs. No. 8 St. Francis Xavier (The Score / tape delay: 22:00)
Saturday, March 14
12:30 Consolation #1
14:30 Consolation #2
18:00 Semifinal #1 (The Score)
20:00 Semifinal #2 (The Score)
Sunday, March 15
13:30 5th-place consolation final
16:00 Final (The Score)
For more information on the CIS Final 8 Men’s Basketball Championship visit www.cisport.ca/e/index.cfm.