A strong start had visions of another upset dancing in the heads of the Ottawa GeeGees, but the Western Mustangs turned things around in the second quarter and ran off to a 17-9 win in the first quarterfinal of the Baggataway Cup in St. Catharines on Friday.
Ottawa had finished the regular season 2-8 but stunned the 8-2 Trent Excalibur on Super Qualifier Weekend last week, a 12-6 win advancing them to the Baggataway Cup for the first time since 2016. Goals by Michael Goegan, Zachary Moen and Landen Sinfield staked them to a 3-1 lead during the first quarter, and when Samuel Oullette opened second-quarter scoring, the GeeGees were up 4-2.
Midfielder Jacob Hickey sandwiched a pair of goals around one by Max Brook to give Western its first lead. Moen tied things up with 6:49 to play in the half, but Hickey scored 45 seconds later and Blake Booth connected a minute after that, starting a run of 6 straight Mustangs' goals to take a stranglehold on the game.
Hickey finished with 6 goals and an assist while four different players added a pair each to pace Western. The Mustangs advance to Saturday's 1pm semifinal to play the McGill Redbirds, who finished atop the East Division with a perfect 10-0 regular season. The game is a rematch of last year's Baggataway Cup final, which Western won 7-4.