Box Score In their first trip back to London since beating the top-seeded Western Mustangs in a decisive game three during last season's playoff run, the Waterloo Warriors almost authored another improbable upset against one of the top teams in the nation.

Almost.

Matt Clarke's early third period marker stood up as the winner, and the sixth-ranked Mustangs weathered a pair of inspired performances from Chris Chappell (Pickering/) and Colin Behenna (Waterloo/) to escape with a 5-4 victory over the tenth-ranked Warriors on Saturday night at Thompson Arena.

The Mustangs (3-1-0) led 4-0 before the midway point of the second period before the Warriors (2-2-1) stormed back to make a game of it. Daniel Erlich notched two points for the host Mustangs in the win, while Chappell registered a hat trick and Behenna contributed with a goal and three assists. Justin Larson (Buckhorn/) also had two helpers for the Warriors in the loss.

Justin Leclerc (Saskatoon/) took the defeat in the Waterloo net, turning aside 31 Mustangs shots. Josh Unice grabbed the win for Western, stopping 35 shots.

Both teams came out of the gates strong, and both goalies had to be sharp early. Erlich opened the scoring for Western just shy of the ten-minute mark, and Stefan Salituro added another for the hosts in the final minute of the frame to make the score 2-0 Mustangs after twenty minutes.

After killing off three straight penalties – including a two-minute 5-on-3 advantage – early in the second, Western capitalized twice in short order to double their lead. First, Kyle DeCoste beat Leclerc to put the Mustangs up 3-0, and then 21 seconds later, Adam Stoykewych jumped on a rebound and buried it for a 4-0 Western advantage.

Chappell responded for the Warriors with two goals before the second period was out, scoring at 12:02 and again with under two minutes left in the period while on a man advantage to make it 4-2 after the second frame.

Clarke temporarily stopped the Warriors momentum just 20 seconds into the third when he stretched Western's lead back to three. From there, the third period was all Warriors, as they found the net twice more. First, Behenna scored his second of the year on a feed from Larson, before Chappell finished off the hat trick on a power play marker with just under six minutes to play. That was the closed the Warriors would get, though, as the Mustangs hung on for the one-goal victory.

The Warriors will now get set for the first installment of the battle of Waterloo, as they will welcome the Wilfird Laurier Golden Hawks to the Columbia Icefield Arena next Friday. Puck drop is slated for 7:30pm.

Notes: The Warriors went 2-for-6 on the power play, while Western went 1-for-4…Chappell now has a team-leading 8 points in 5 games…This was the first meeting between Larson and Western's Zach Harnden since the two were together at Washington Capitals training camp in September.