CALGARY-  The Mount Royal Cougars lost a With an aggressive and rough game 5-2 to the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday night. The loss drops the Cougars to 14-7-0 on the season. Tanner Olstad scored his first goal this season with the Cougars. Nate Fleming came out of the game with two goals for the Thunderbirds. 
 

Quick on their skates both teams started off strong fighting hard for the puck. 1:49 into the game the Thunderbirds showed their skills scoring the first goal of the game, by Manraj Hayer. Shortly after the UBC Captain Ben Schmidt was called for hooking giving the Cougars an early power play. The Cougars struggled at first but came in with sharp goal by Tanner Olstad, his first goal of the season with the Cougars, tying the game 1-1.

Tyler Jewitt then came in with a killer shot going right past the blocker of goalie Eric Williams into the left corner, making it 2-1 for the Mount Royal. The Thunderbirds picked up the pace and were eventually rewarded on a great team passing play finished off by Nick Buonassisi tying the game 2-2. By the end of the first period both teams were throwing their bodies in the game, considerably. 
 

 The Cougars went on the power play heading into the second period but nothing came of it. Penalties for both sides became a factor in the second period.  Both teams struggled to hit their intended targets on the power play. The Thunderbirds came out on top  22-17 shots on goal but the game remained tied 2-2. 
 

When play resumed both teams had issues hitting the net. Dillon Wagner scored on a beautiful unassisted effort to put the Thunderbirds up 3-2 with less than ten minutes to play. The Cougars pressed hard but were unable to get the equalizer. UBC added two empty netters to take the match 5-2. 
 

Mount Royal and UBC will conclude their weekend series tomorrow night, January 10 at 7 pm in the Flames Community Arenas.