LONDON, Ont. — The Laurier Golden Hawks rode a dominant defegoaltending effort and a pair of goals from forward Max-Antoine Melancon to shut out the Western Mustangs 2–0 on Thursday night in OUA men's hockey action.

Melancon wasted no time putting Laurier on the board, scoring just 13 seconds into the first period after a setup from defenceman Alec McDonald to give the visitors an early 1–0 lead.

The game settled into a physical, penalty-filled contest through the middle frame, but neither side could capitalize on several special-teams opportunities.

Laurier killed off all three Western power plays, while the Mustangs' penalty killers managed to fend off Laurier's early advantage before the Hawks struck again late in the third.

With under three minutes remaining, Melancon notched his second of the night - and a power-play marker - assisted by Ryan Pryce at 16:58 to double Laurier's lead and seal the win.

The game featured heavy penalty minutes on both sides, including a ten-minute misconduct to Ness late in the second period as tempers flared.

The first-year from Winnipeg turned aside all 33 shots he faced to earn the shutout - his second of the season. He leads the OUA with a 1.60 goals against average and .953 save percentage in five games played.

Melancon, the team's fourth-year forward from Drummondville, Que., is in a three-way tie for the OUA goal-scoring lead with eight tallies through 11 games. 

The win gave Laurier back-to-back wins to maintain a hold of first place in the OUA West division standings with 16 points at 8-3-0-0.

Up Next:
The Golden Hawks travel to the Columbia Ice Field for their first Battle of Waterloo match-up against the Warriors (4-5-0-0) on Saturday at 4pm. Catch the action live on OUA.tv