The Lancer men's hockey team will kick off the OUA west semi-finals against the No. 8 Western Mustangs tonight in game one of the best-of-three series.
 
Windsor defeated to the Toronto Varsity Blues in two straight games in the quarter-finals to advance to this round, while the Mustangs defeated the Guelph Gryphons two games to one.
 
This season, the Lancers and Mustangs have had a season series to write home about this year, taking turns laying a five-goal beating on each other in the first half of the season and having the experience of a lifetime playing outdoors at Comerica Park during the Sirius XM Winter Classic Festival in December.
 
The series will begin at Thompson Arena on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. before shifting to Windsor on Saturday for game two at South Windsor Arena at 7:30 p.m. If necessary, game three will be played Sunday at 7:00 p.m. at Thompson Arena.
 
Game One: Western vs. Windsor - Thursday, February 27 at 7 PM - watch live on Mustangs TV
Game Two: Western at Windsor - Saturday, March 1 at 7:30 PM – watch live on goLancers.tv
Game Three (if necessary): Western vs. Windsor - Sunday, March 2 at 7 PM
 
Leading Windsor through both of those victories was netminder Parker Van Buskirk, who continued his regular season success, stopping 58 of 62 shots for a save percentage of .935. Sitting tied with Van Buskirk in save percentage is Western's Josh Unice, who registered an identical percentage through Western's three game first-round series.
 
It's not the first time this season that Van Buskirk and Unice find themselves tied in an OUA category. The two goaltenders finished the regular season tied at the top of the OUA wins leaderboard with 16 apiece, although Windsor's veteran goaltender appeared in five more games. Unice had the edge in both goals against average and save percentage too, finishing with a 2.56 GAA compared to Van Buskirk's 2.66 and compiling a save percentage of .927% that was slightly higher than van Buskirk's .920%.
 
On offense, the Lancers are being led in points so far this post season by Derek Lanoue and Evan Stibbard, who both have three. Both players had multi-point nights in their second game against Toronto, with Lanoue scoring a goal and an assist and Stibbard adding a tally and two assists to propel their team over the Varsity Blues.
 
As for Spencer Pommells, Windsor's leading scorer during the regular season with 32 points, he's close behind with two points, registering a helper in game one before adding a goal in game two. In his three year tenure with the Lancers Pommells has managed just over a point-per-game pace during the post season, as he now has 19 points through 17 games.
 
While Windsor only has two players—Lanoue and Stibbard—who have managed three points so far this offseason, the Mustangs have seven,  although the purple and white have played one extra game. Nonetheless, the Mustangs have been scoring by committee so far this post season, led by Zach Harnden, Daniel Erlich, and Steve Reese, who all have five points. Harnden has three goals and one helper through three games while Erlich and Reese both have four assists.
 
In net, Unice has been solid for the Mustangs so far in the playoffs. After letting in five goals in Western's tough 5-4 game one loss and snapping his eleven game win streak, the veteran netminder has stopped 67 of 69 shots for a .971 save percentage to start an entirely new streak.