LONDON, Ont - Christian Douglas earned a goal to tie the score with the York Lions early in the second half, but the Mustangs were unable to stop the flow of shots coming from York as the Lions handed Western a 3-1 loss on Sunday afternoon at Mustangs Field.

The loss gives Western a record of 3-5-2, bumping the team down to sixth place in the OUA West Division. The reigning CIS champions are now in second place with six wins, one loss, and one tie.

 "It was good to get on the scoreboard," said Western striker Douglas. "It's my first of the year and I've been struggling to start the year so far, so it was good."

"We just need to play our game," continued Douglas. "We've been playing well, haven't been getting the results. Just gotta keep sticking with it and hope the results will come."

With a one goal deficit, the Mustangs tied the game early in the second half. Moving their way towards the York end, Western's Amad El-Houni crossed the ball in front of the net where Douglas volleyed it in to tie the score at 1-1.

Knowing the game would be a tough one, the Mustangs came out hot at the starting whistle. They were able to hold off York for the first portion of the half, but 23 minutes in Lions striker Michael Cox bolted forward unexpectedly to take the ball away from Ben Cowman to net the first goal of the match. The Mustangs attempted to get onto the scoreboard in the first 45 minutes, but they were only able to manage one shot that was picked up by York's Colm Vance.

While Douglas' goal early in the second half started turning momentum in favour of the Mustangs, it wasn't enough to slow down the Lions. Unfortunately for the purple and white, York took back control of the game to send eight more shots toward Cowman, two of which connected with the mesh. On the other end of the field, the Mustangs were unable to get any more shots on York's goalie.

"They've got a talented team," said Western head coach Rock Basacco. "They did a great job of possession of the ball. They moved the ball around well and waited for the right opportunity to come, and they're skillful. Every one of their players can handle the ball extremely well, and they're creative."

 "It's nothing that you can really do that's new," said Basacco about what the team needs to do moving forward. "It's just that we can't afford to give away the ball, and that's sort of been the general theme of ours for a few of our games, and until we can get out of that mentality, then it's gonna be difficult to get the wins that we need."

The Mustangs now turn their attention to their second contest of the year against the McMaster Marauders on Saturday, October 3, where the purple and white will be looking to avenge their 2-0 loss from earlier this month. Game time for Western's final home game of the regular season is set for 3:15 p.m. at Mustangs Field.