Through a plague of injuries, seemingly endless bad luck, and a lengthy losing streak, the Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team never stopped working. On Saturday night in London, they were finally rewarded for their efforts.
Max Neill (Portage la Prairie,MB/) registered a goal and an assist, while Matt Onuska (Waterloo,ON/) made 35 stops as the Warriors topped the Western Mustangs at Thompson Arena this past weekend.
The victory snaps a 16-game losing streak for the Warriors, as the black and gold gets back in the win column for the first time since late October. Their win also completed a clean sweep of the Mustangs on the ice this weekend, as the Warriors women's team took both ends of a home-and-home against Western.
The Warriors drew first blood on a power play midway through the first period, when Nate Bierd (Calgary,AB/) motored in on the right-wing side and beat Western keeper Dylan Myskiw to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
Waterloo took their modest lead and tripled it with an offensive outburst early in the second period. Just under 90 seconds into the middle frame, Neill followed up a Tate Popple (Brandon,MB/) shot by diving and poking the rebound across the goal line to make it 2-0 for the visitors. And then, just 1:41 later, Emmett Pierce neatly banked a shot in off a scrambling Myskiw from behind the goal line, giving the Warriors a 3-0 lead.
The Mustangs answered back quickly when Christian Aiello scored on the power play to cut the lead to 3-1. Then, nearing the end of the frame, the Warriors once again surrendered a power play marker when Zac McCann drew the Mustangs to within a goal heading into the third period.
But the Warriors were undeterred – instead of feeling the weight of their recent slide and the possibility of surrendering the lead, they battened down the hatches and played a perfect road period. They were rewarded just over 7 minutes into the period, when Adamo Santia (Richmond Hill,ON/) batted home a centering feed from Neill to give Waterloo the breathing room they needed to coast to victory.
Onuska was excellent when called upon, as he earned his first victory since returning from an injury that kept him on the shelf for much of the first term. Popple and Liam Fedak (Oakville,ON/) also added two helpers on the night for the black and gold.
Waterloo will now return to action at home, where they'll face a pair of OUA East division foes next weekend. On Friday night, the Warriors will host the Queen's Gaels at 7pm, before welcoming the RMC Paladins on Saturday afternoon at 3pm.
