In a scheduling anomaly, the Waterloo Warriors had to wait nearly a year between meetings with their west division-rival Western Mustangs. But thanks to their quick-strike ability and scoring depth, the black and gold made the most of their reunion with the Mustangs.
The Warriors swept both ends of a weekend home-and-home with Western, as they claimed a 3-1 victory at home on Friday, before a 5-2 triumph in London on Saturday afternoon.
Paige Rynne (Ancaster,ON/) notched three goals and an assist on the weekend, and Madison Pritchard (Richards Landing,ON/) registered two goals and two assists in the pair of wins. Brooklyn Cole (Kitchener,ON/) added three helpers in the sweep, while Andrea Murray (Mississauga,ON/), Keiara Raitt (Ancaster,ON/), and Carly Orth (Bolton,ON/) each had two-point weekends.
The two regulation victories add six points to Waterloo's tally in the standings, as the Warriors now sit at 14-6-2 on the year. Their 42 points now have them 10 points clear of Laurier for second place in the OUA West division.
Western 1, Waterloo 3
The Warriors wasted no time jumping out to a lead in front of their home crowd on Friday night, scoring just 29 seconds after the opening puck drop. A Murray shot from the slot was deflected high in the air, and Rynne used her expert hand-eye coordination to whack the puck out of mid-air, behind Western goalie Brooke Vaccari to make it 1-0 Waterloo.
The Mustangs responded early in the second, when Kylie Logan took a rebound off the lively end boards and slid her first OUA goal past Warriors keeper Mikayla Schnarr (Waterloo,ON/) to knot things up at 1-1. But the Warriors continued to pour on the pressure throughout the middle frame, and Leah Herrfort (Palmerston,ON/) converted a one-time feed from Pritchard on a late-period power play to give Waterloo a 2-1 advantage after 40 minutes.
The Warriors continued to tilt the ice in their favour, outshooting the Mustangs 31-10 over the final two periods. Vaccari held her team in the game, but Waterloo finally found som breathing room midway through the third when, on the rush, Cole's perfect feed was deftly redirected by Pritchard off the post and in, giving the Warriors the 3-1 victory.
Schnarr made 18 stops in claiming the win, while Vacarri turned away 36 shots in defeat. Herrfort's second-period tally tied her for the league lead with 13 tallies on the season, while tying her for second in game-winning goals with four.
Waterloo 5, Western 2
The same two teams met less than 24 hours later at Thompson Arena in London, but the Warriors once again hopped in front early – and once again, it was Rynne and Murray who got their team on the board. This time, Murray put together an outrageous solo effort, weaving through the Western defenders and sliding a backhand on net. Vaccari kicked out the initial shot, but Rynne was all alone in front for the tap-in to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead after the first period.
Rynne doubled the Waterloo lead just past the seven-minute mark of the second, when she was sent in alone by Pritchard and roofed a wicked wrister to make it 2-0. Kate Suitor responded for Western just 13 seconds later to cut the Warriors lead to 2-1, but Waterloo goaltender Kara Mark (New Hamburg,ON/) kept the Mustangs from finding the equalizer with several ten-bell saves as the period progressed. With just over five minutes left in the middle frame, Carly Orth (Bolton,ON/) sniped a shot in the top corner from a near-impossible angle to restore Waterloo's two-goal lead. Then, before the period was out, Pritchard converted on a 2-on-1 with Cole to make it 4-1 heading into the second intermission.
Raitt added to the onslaught in the first minute of the third period, before Emma Thomas got one back for the hosts to make it 5-2. But That was as close as the Mustangs would come, and Waterloo put the finishing touches on the weekend sweep.
Mark turned aside 27 shots to extend her record to 7-0-0 on the season, while Vaccari made 30 saves in the Mustangs net.
The Warriors will now renew hostilities with their cross-town rivals, the Laurier Golden Hawks, on Thursday night at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex. It's the second of four meetings between the two clubs this season, and the first of three meetings over the next three weeks to end the season.
Waterloo's next home date is slated for Sunday, Feb 4, as they'll host the Brock Badgers at 2:30 pm.
