OUA West Semi Final: Corbeil notched hat trick for Mustangs in opener

LONDON, Ont. - Chris Corbeil (Oakville, Ont.) notched three goals in No. 6 nationally-ranked Western's 5-2 victory over the Windsor Lancers on Feb. 24 at Thompson Arena in the first game of the OUA West semifinal best-of-three series.

Remaining Mustangs goals were scored by Kyle Lamb (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) and Jason Furlong (London, Ont.). Lancers goals were claimed by Jonathan Sciacca and Scott Gillis.

The Mustangs Joe McCann (Essex, Ont.) held onto the puck long enough to make a cross-ice pass to Yashar Farmanara (West Vancouver, B.C.) to beat one Windsor defender. Farmanara made a swift pass around the last defender to Lamb in front of the net who released a goal past Lancers' Jim Watt (Edmonton).

Furlong notched a shorthanded goal after Windsor's offensive attack produced an odd-man rush. Furlong stickhandled around the Lancers' defenceman waiting for his linemates to gain the zone and create a scoring opportunity. Furlong picked a corner and wired a shot past Watt to take a 2-0 lead heading into the second frame.

The Lancers went up on a 5-on-3 advantage over the Mustangs and worked the puck in the offensive zone. Western's goaltender Keyvan Hunt (Coquitlam, B.C.) made several saves before Sciacca's shot beat Hunt down low to bring the game to 2-1.

Windsor broke out against the Mustangs and on a defensive mishap Lancer Gillis beat Western's defenders and Hunt to tie the game.

Western battled back and regained the lead after Farmanara's initial shot was blocked by Watt but Corbeil jumped all over an open rebound.

Hunt made 33 saves as a crucial component to the Mustangs game success. Hunt's outstanding play held the Lancers power play opportunities at 1-for-8.

Corbeil scored his second of the night after banking a pass off the boards past Windsor's defender to Matt Piva on the left wing. Piva and Corbeil rushed the offensive zone where Piva made a quick pass across to Corbeil who went top shelf on his backhand to beat Watt and take a 4-2 lead.

Corbeil also netted an empty net goal with one second remaining to earn a hat trick and obtain the 5-2 victory.

Head coach Clarke Singer said Corbeil has been missed through his absence while playing lacrosse for the National Lacrosse League with the Buffalo Bandits. "He's really a dynamic player as we saw tonight, he does a lot of things real well, and getting three goals tonight was a big factor in this game," Singer said.

The Mustangs will travel to Windsor on Friday for the second game of the OUA West semifinal series. The contest begins at 7 p.m. and will air live on CHRW Radio (94.9 FM) and online at www.chrwradio.com/listen/.

Source: Western Mustangs