Mustangs strike late to down Bears

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The Melbourne Mustangs scored three goals in the final 10 minutes to emerge victorious against the Sydney Bears with a 4–2 win at the O’Brien Group Arena on Sunday afternoon.
 
In a game of strong goaltending, it was the Mustangs’ Chris Slauenwhite who ended on top, claiming his first win in Mustangs colours.
 
In a fairly slow first period, the Mustangs led the shots 14 to 9 on goal but it was the Bears that held the advantage on the scoreboard.
 
Brian Funes managed to put one to the back of the net with a close range wrist shot after a pass across the goal face from Tomas Landa late in the period.
 
Mustangs coach Michael Flaherty seemed to know what he was getting into facing the Bears for the first time this season.
 
“It pretty much was how I'd expected,” Flaherty said. “The Bears are a solid team, they've got fantastic goaltending, and we knew it was going to be tough to put the puck in the back of the net.”
 
Almost three minutes into the second and the Bears doubled up with a nearly identical goal, this time to Billy Cliff.
 
The Mustangs struck back minutes later with a Brendan McDowell slap shot cutting the score to 2-1.
 
“I liked when we did the things that we asked the boys to do, and they worked,” Flaherty said. “When we support each other and worked together as a unit. What I also liked is when the penalties and stuff started getting thrown around, our guys were able to keep their cool, and stay focused on the job.”
 
The rest of the second and beginning of the third was a battle to control the puck, with turnovers prevalent throughout.
 
This was broken when Jamie Bourke brought the puck behind the goals and passed to James Isaacs who swooped in to slot a one-timer and evening the scores with just over eight minutes remaining.
 
Minutes later, the Mustangs hit the lead through Bourke.
 
The last minute of the game saw a controversial finish with multiple penalties against the Bears as frustrations boiled over.
 
With just one second remaining, the Mustangs sealed the result with a goal to Captain Pat O’Kane.
 
“I was happy our boys were able to keep focused, we were able to continue to do the things that we needed to do, then we can get the results, and it makes it easier for us,” Flaherty said.
 
Next week the Mustangs take on the Perth Thunder in Melbourne in a double header, while the Bears will face the Sydney Ice Dogs in the Battle of Sydney at Penrith on Saturday, before travelling to face the Newcastle North Stars in Newcastle on Sunday.