The Western Mustangs knocked the Brock Badgers out of the playoffs Wednesday evening with a 1-0 victory at Alumni Field in London, Ontrario. The game started off intensely as Brock goalkeeper Anthony Stott made a diving save to snatch the ball out of the top right corner. Shortly after, midfielder Emmanuel Kumar had a glorious scoring opportunity, but an official blew his whistle to call a Mustang foul, this whistle put an end to Brock's first good scoring chance of the game.
Later in the first half, Mustangs midfielder Rudy James scored a highlight-reel goal, which ultimately decided the game. Western striker Mohammad Reza Nafar chipped the ball cross field to James, who then one-timed the soccer ball out of midair into the open net. The Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago native celebrated his goal by saluting in front of the Badgers' bench, whose coach had been very vocal about his opinion with the officiating in the first half.
Listen to Interviews
Hot-Headed Response from Badgers
As the game went on, tempers were flaring as Brock's Nathan Briglio shoved Western's James after the whistle. However, no cards were issued and in the 60th minute, Briglio was given a yellow card for fouling Ryan Quong of Western. Quong was unharmed, and Briglio managed to stay disciplined for the rest of the game.
As expected, there weren't any substitutions until the end of this matchup approached. The Badgers, whose starting lineup couldn't seem to keep up with the Mustangs in the second half, made their first substitution in the 65th minute. Later in the 79th minute, Western's Head Coach Rock Basacco was forced to take James out of the game after he was laying on the pitch for a concerning amount of time. Although James limped off the field, he appeared to be fine after the game and Basacco didn't seem worried about his star midfielder's health.
Despite signs of life in the dying minutes, the Brock Badgers were unable to overcome the sturdy Western defense. Unfortunately for them, their season is done. The Mustangs look to continue their winning ways as they advance to the OUA quarter final versus the York Lions and that game kicks off this Sunday at 7pm from the lion's den in Toronto, Ontario.
