The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team fell 5-4 in overtime to the Western Mustangs on Thursday (Oct. 9) night at Varsity Arena.

Less than two minutes into the game Zander Veccia opened the scoring to put U of T down 1-0 early. The Blues evened the score midway through the opening frame as second-year defenceman Ranvir Gill-Shane fired a shot through traffic and into the back of the net for his first goal in the OUA. Western was able to generate traffic in front of U of T's net and defenceman Jacob Dietz capitalized as the Blues trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes of play.

In the second period Toronto grabbed another equalizer as third-year forward Brandon Santa Juana circled around the offensive zone and found fourth-year forward Zack Smith open for a one-timer. The Saskatoon, Sask., native capitalized for his second goal of the season to even the score. Two goals in the second half of the middle frame saw Lawson Sherk regain Western's lead and Veccia add an insurance marker for his second goal of the night.

In the third period, the Blues were relentless in the offensive zone as they looked to mount a comeback. With less than five minutes remaining second-year forward Nicolas Athanasakos sparked a rally when his shot went off of Mustangs goaltender Jack McNaughton and into the back of the net, bringing the Blue and White within one. With 66 seconds left in the game and the Blues on the power play, third-year forward Rylee Hlusiak and fellow third-year forward Julian Recine sent the puck back-and-forth to one another before Recine fired a shot over McNaughton's shoulder as his first goal of the season forced overtime.

63 seconds into overtime Veccia was sprung for a breakaway and capitalized to complete the hat trick and secure the win for the Mustangs.

Third-year goaltender Jordan Fairlie made 28 saves in goal for U of T.

The Blues are back in action on Saturday (Oct. 11) afternoon when they take on the York Lions in Toronto. Puck drop is scheduled for 12 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on oua.tv.