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Men's Hockey

MRU (2) at CGY (1)

The Mount Royal men's hockey team didn't have to go far for their road game on Thursday and took on their crosstown rivals, the University of Calgary Dinos. Calgary was riding high after starting their season 4-0, extending their Canada West winning streak to 27 games that dates back to last season. The last time the Dinos lost a Canada West game was on October 14, 2022, when they fell 7-2 to none other than the MRU Cougars. 

363 days later, the Mount Royal had a chance to end the streak and reclaim Crowchild Classic bragging rights. 

Thursday's tilt started off extremely tight and remained scoreless after the first period. In the second period, the Cougars found twine first. Second-year winger Connor Bouchard pulled off an impressive solo effort, backhanding the puck over the shoulder of Dinos netminder Carl Tetachuk to give MRU a huge 1-0 lead. Bouchard and the Cougars took that lead into the final 20 minutes of play.

In the third period, MRU extended their lead. After a perfect faceoff win by Jaden Senkoe that went right back to Connor Blake, the Cougars captain found Clayton Hanus who unleashed a slapshot that squeaked through Tetachuk and across the line. With under 12 minutes to play, Calgary's streak was in significant jeopardy.

The reigning CW champion Dinos wouldn't go down without a fight and found a way to get one past Cougars netminder Shane Farkas, who was having his best game of the season thus far. 

However, Mount Royal held on for the 2-1 victory in their hardest-fought game of the season.


Women's Soccer

WSOC: MRU (0) at TWU (5)
WSOC: MRU (0) at UFV (3)

The Cougars women's soccer team concluded their regular season with a road trip to the lower mainland. Going into the weekend, Mount Royal still held a chance of making the Canada West playoffs but would need to come up with a couple of positive results against two skilled opponents.

On Friday the Cougars kicked off against the division's second-place team, the Trinity Western Spartans. Trinity was dominant all game long, finishing the game with 21 total shots including 10 on goal. The offensive outburst from the Spartans put them up 4-0 in the first half, adding one more goal in the second half to secure a 5-0 win over MRU. With the loss, the Cougars were eliminated from playoff contention.

On Sunday, the Cougars headed to Abbotsford for their season finale against the UFV Cascades. The home team went up 2-0 on MRU early in the match. In the 31st minute, MRU goalkeeper Torrance Langdon made a terrific save to keep the Cascades up by only two.

Tamara Djurisic gave the Cougars their best offensive chance of the game when she lined up for a free kick from distance but sent it just over the crossbar. UFV added one more goal late to win the game 3-0.

Despite a disappointing conclusion to their season and being unable to earn a spot in the playoffs, Mount Royal saw many bright spots over the course of the 2023 campaign. Highlighting the Cougars' season was the incredible performance by rookie striker Tamara Djurisic. The first year tied the MRU Cougars single-season record for goals (8), set by Catriona McFadden in 2022. Along with Djurisic, forward Sydney Danielewicz etched her name all over the record book, most notably as the new all-time leader in regular-season goals (13) for Mount Royal. Finally, the Cougars were led on the defensive end by their captain Keilyn Stabler, who put up a remarkable all-around showing in 2023.


Men's Soccer

MSOC: MRU (2) at ALB (1)
MSOC: MRU (1) at GMU (1)

Cougars men's soccer picked four crucial points during their trip to Edmonton in a couple of matches against the Alberta Golden Bears and MacEwan Griffins. 

The Golden Bears hosted MRU on Saturday for a battle between the top two teams in the Prairie Division. Earlier in the season, Alberta handed the Cougars their first loss of the season, making the rematch a key game for both sides. 

Alberta got on the board first in the 11th minute to make it 1-0. Later in the first half, the Cougars evened the score when they were awarded a penalty, much to the dismay of the Golden Bears players. David Schaefer stepped up to the spot and found the back of the net, just as he's done all year long.

In the second half, the Cougars continued the offensive pressure. Mount Royal was given a second penalty kick when Schaefer attempted to head the ball into the net off a corner kick and was turned away by Golden Bears midfielder Jake Bosch who saved the ball with his arm. Despite Bosch pleading and insisting that the ball hit his shoulder, the referee issued him a red card and signalled for a Mount Royal penalty kick. Schaefer made no mistake from the spot for the second time to give MRU the lead with just over 10 minutes to play. The two goals from the Cougars forward give him nine on the year, ranking him second in the league and also ties him with his former teammate Mohamed El Gandour for the MRU single-season goal record.

After the big 2-1 win over Alberta, MRU headed to the Edmonton Soccer Dome for a date with the MacEwan Griffins on Sunday.

The match was scoreless after the first 45 minutes but in the second half, the Griffins scored to take the lead. However, in the 82nd minute, Mowbray Beghin put one in to equalize the score. Abel Nesibu fed a great pass and Beghin finished it off to help the Cougars earn a draw with the Griffins. MRU holds a 10-2-1 record with one regular season game remaining, marking the first time in program history that they have registered 10 wins in a season.

Women's Hockey

WHKY: MRU (3) at CGY (1)

After beating the University of Calgary Dinos at home on Friday night, the MRU women's hockey team headed north on Crowchild Trail for a rematch on Saturday at Father David Bauer Arena.

The Dinos lit the lamp first in the second period but Mount Royal would not stay down for long. Aliya Jomha jammed home the puck while on the powerplay to tie the game up at one. Then during another Cougar powerplay early in the third period, MRU took the lead for the first time in the game. Jori Hansen-Young's shot from the top of the circle was deflected by the stick of Kiana McNinch and fell right to Athena Hauck who was wide open on the doorstep. Hauck quickly shot it into the gaping Dinos' net.

Calgary pressed back hard against the Cougars but netminder Kaitlyn Ross could not be beat. The 2022 U SPORTS National Championship MVP made 27 saves including 16 in the final frame to lead Mount Royal to their second win in as many nights. 

Breanne Trotter added a late empty netter to solidify the victory and put the game out of reach for the Dinos. 

Next Weekend

There will be another full slate of Cougars action next week. MHKY and WHKY will not play next weejend and enjoy their bye week. MSOC wraps up their regular season with their eyes on securing first place in the division when they host the Calgary Dinos on Saturday. Finally, WVB and MVB open their season on the road, each with a couple of matches against the UBC Thunderbirds. All the action can be streamed live and on-demand on Canada West TV.