Riding a thrilling come-from-behind 2-1 series victory over the top-seeded York Lions, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team is now set to take on the Western Mustangs in a best-of-three OUA West semifinal this week.
 

Date	Visitor	Home	Time	Location	Media
Wednesday, February 24	Toronto	Western	7:00 p.m.	Thompson Arena	Live Video
Friday, February 26	Western	Toronto	7:30 p.m.	Varsity Arena	Tickets Live Video Live Stats
Sunday, February 28 *if necessary	Toronto	Western	7:00 p.m.	Thompson Arena	Live Video Live Stats

 
A Head-to-Head Look

Toronto finished the regular season with an 11-15-2 record in eighth place in the West, while the Mustangs were 18-10-0 finishing second in the West standings.

The Mustangs defeated the Blues by one goal three times this season, earning a 3-2 double-overtime victory in October (Oct. 23), a 3-2 win in January (Jan. 21) and a 4-3 final in February (Feb. 5).

Toronto will enter the showdown riding a wave of momentum though, defeating the top-seed York Lions in three-games in the first round. Western took down the Laurier Golden Hawks in two straight to advance to the OUA West semifinal.

U of T holds a slight edge over the Mustangs with a 4-3 postseason record dating back to 1972. The last time these two programs met was in the playoffs in the 2003-04 season, where the Varsity Blues edged out Western 5-4 in an OUA Final Four showdown.

Battling for the Blues

Third-year netminder Andrew Hunt's hot streak has continued into the OUA playoffs as the Varsity Blues starter played a pivotal role in Toronto's upset of the top-seed York Lions this past weekend. Taking down the Lions in three games, Hunt finished the first-round series making 89 saves while amassing a .937 save percentage, good enough for 5th in the OUA playoff rankings.

Offensively, fourth-year forward Patrick Marsh has emerged as the teams postseason threat, scoring the game-winner in a 3-2 Game 2 victory while totalling three points (1 G, 2 A) through the OUA West quarter-final round. The Blues leading goal scorer through the regular season with 14 goals, Marsh will play a pivotal role in the second-round matchup.

Also look for fellow fourth-year forward Christian Finch and rookie sensation Matt Campagna to play a role in U of T's offensive attack. Finch led the Blues and ranked among the top 20 players in the league with eight goals and 23 assists for 31 points in 28 regular season games while notching one goal and one assist in the first round. For Campagna, who enjoyed a stellar rookie campaign ranking second on the team with 10 goals and third with 28 points in 28 games, he will enter round two with his first career OUA playoff goal already out of the way.

Mustangs to Watch

Western will enter the second round riding a red hot offence as nine players registered multiple points in their two-game first round series. Leading the way is Andrew Goldberg who registered five points (2 G, 3 A) including a two-goal effort in the Mustangs dominant 8-3 Game 1 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks.

Meanwhile in net, Western will continue to utilize a two goalie system with Peter Delmas and Greg Dodds each picking up a win in the first round. The pair split duties throughout the regular season with Dodds starting 14 games earning an 11-4 record while Delmas started 13 games and amassed a 7-6 record. Together the pair currently hold a .927 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average in playoff action.

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