Hamilton, Ont. - The Marauders men's rugby team suffered their first loss in five games to the Western Mustangs on Saturday afternoon on Back 10 Field at McMaster.

The Marauders were the first to get on the board with a penalty goal from third-year Andrew Ferguson (Mississauga, Ont.). But the Mustangs would quickly respond, scoring their first try of the match thanks to Courtney Mendez. Mike Turnbull (Oakville, Ont.) would miss the convert to bring the score to 5-3 in favour of the visitors.

Just two minutes later, McMaster would take back the lead. Fourth-year Trevor Anderson (Toronto) would score his third try of the season with a series of passes that got the ball deep in Western's end for the score. Ferguson would connect for the convert to put McMaster up 10-5.

But before the half was over, Western would score twice. The first coming from Rory Tomlinson (Allison, Ont.) and the second from Mike Penczak (Brantford, Ont.), in which Turnbull would make both converts. Ferguson would score another penalty goal as the ref would blow the whistle for half time. McMaster would trail Western 19-13.

In the second half, a nice passing play from Western would allow them to score early, doubling the Marauders score. Turnbull would score the try and the convert.

After that, McMaster would work hard to get back on board, getting deep in Western's end and they would finally get through with Ferguson earning the try to get within eight points. 

Unfortunately, Western couldn't be stopped as Tomlinson would score his second try of the game and Turnbull would connect for his fourth convert. Before the game was over, Ferguson would add seven more points to the Marauders final score, but it wouldn't be enough to overtake the Mustangs. Western would win it 33-25.

McMaster finishes their season with a 5-3 record and will have to wait until the regular season finishes up next weekend to determine their position heading into the OUA men's rugby playoffs.