Box Score Friday, November 9, 2012 - Calgary, AB...Cole Wilson recorded a hat-trick Friday to lead the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds to a 7-2 win over the Mount Royal University Cougars in Canada West men's hockey at Flames Community Arenas.

Also scoring for UBC was Max Grassi, Brad Hoban, Joe Antilla and Scott Wasden. Tyler Jewitt and Mike Brown replied for the Cougars.

The teams play again Saturday at the same rink at 7 p.m.

The Thunderbirds stopped a losing skid at two games and improve to 5-3-1. The Cougars have lost three straight and are 2-9-0. They've given up 20 goals in those three losses.

“Right now we're letting our goalie down; we're not helping him out,” Cougars head coach Jean Laforest said.

“We're giving up too may odd man rushes. There's not enough commitment to defence.”

A first period that was quiet through the first 17 minutes — five shots for UBC, three for the Cougars — came alive when the Thunderbirds scored a pair of goals late in the frame.

Wilson one-timed a shot from the high slot to finish off a three-way passing play with Neil Manning and Jason Yee at 17:58. Grassi was sent in alone and beat MRU goalie Dalyn Flette between the pads with 51.6 seconds left.

Jewitt got the Cougars on the scoresheet just over nine minutes into the second period with a shot from the top of the face-off circle past Steven Stanford.

But, Hoban (15:32), Wilson (17:15) and Antilla (17:41) scored in quick succession to stretch the UBC lead to 5-1 before Brown got another for Mount Royal at 18:03.

Wilson at 2:01 and Wasden at 12:46 completed the scoring in the third.

The Cougars actually outshot UBC 31-30 but many UBC shots were quality, taken by players who were left unchecked, including the three quick ones to close out the second.

Mount Royal, in its first season in the university league, is going through a particularly frustrating stretch. They were outscored 13-2 in a sweep at the hands of the University of Alberta Golden Bears last weekend.

“We just can't sustain 60 minutes (of play) and we have to do that,” Laforest said.