The Mount Royal Cougars men's soccer team sealed the deal for first place in the Central Division and hosting rights when they defeated the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Saturday, Oct. 23 with a 2-0 win, clinching their second playoff spot in as many years.
 
This achievement continues to build on their success from the 2019-20 season where the men's soccer team earned bronze at the Canada West Championships.
 
Now, the Cougars are set to face new competition as the fourth-place team from the West Division, Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack, who will arrive to compete in the Canada West quarter finals match up held at MRU Stadium Field on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m.
 
Finishing the season with a 6-1-3 overall record, 21 points and 5 game win streak, the Cougars easily captured first place in the Central Division with the University of Alberta falling behind with 17 points in second place. The Golden Bears were the only team MRU fell against on Oct. 2 in Edmonton with a 0-1 loss, but the Cougars' confidence was not shaken as the men rallied back to finish the season on a positive note which included a record-breaking 12-3 win against Grant MacEwan on Oct. 10.
 
Third-year forward Moe El Gandour has had quite a phenomenal season earning 800 min of playing time across 9 games, 11 points (8G-3A) and 12 shot attempts placing him first overall among Canada West points and goal leaders. El Gandour along with David Schaefer 6 points (6G), Dane Domic 5 points (4G-1A), Miguel Da Rocha 4 points (4G), Justin Anderson-Louch 4 points (3G-1A), Hafiz Mahjor 3 points (3A) and Niklas Liebich 3 points (3A) all cracked the top 25 point leaders of Canada West men's soccer standings, which combined, makes up almost 30 per cent of CW's points leaders. Goalkeeper Sterling Kerr also supported the team's efforts well this year finishing with a 1.14 goals-against average and .771 save percentage in seven games. 
 
Included in this year's memorable season was also a career highlight moment for Anderson-Louch when he scored a goal from 65-70 metres out of the box, picking up mentions from local news, TSN, Sportsnet and other news outlets across the globe, covering the incredible goal.
 
Turning to face their competition on Saturday, MRU will be evaluating the likes of TRU's Wolfpack who finished 4-3-5  during the regular season and fell to fourth place behind the University of Fraser Valley due to tie-breaking criteria when a previous match result between the tied two teams has UFV as the winner, taking third place overall.
 
Top players to keep an eye on for TRU include forward James Fraser with 4 points (3G-1A), defenceman Mikkel Rosenlund with 3 points (2G-1A) and goalkeeper Jackson Gardner with 12 games under his belt and a .840 GAA and .750 SV%.
 
Support your Cougars in the Canada West quarter finals matchup on October 30 at 1 p.m. at Stadium Field where the first 100 fans in attendance will receive free hot chocolate or watch the game live on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.