Female Athlete of the Week

The defending U SPORTS National Champion MRU Cougars women's hockey team opened their season across the provincial border, taking on the University of Regina Cougars for a pair of games. In Friday's season opener, Mount Royal overcame a 2-1 lead held by Regina when forward Allee Gerrard tied the game late in the third period, sending it to overtime where MRU emerged victorious. In Saturday's rematch, Mount Royal defeated Regina once again in a 6-0 blowout win.

Leading the Cougars to their hot start is this week's Players Bench Female Athlete of the Week Kiana McNinch. The second-year forward is coming off an impressive rookie season for MRU and continued her high-level play in the first couple of games of the 2023-24 season. The Turtleford, Sask., local scored the all-important overtime-winning goal in Friday's game with an excellent pass from Athena Hauck. McNinch added a second goal during the weekend, scoring the fourth of six tallies in MRU's shutout win on Saturday.

McNinch also excels in the classroom in the Health and Physical Education program at Mount Royal.

Male Athlete of the Week

In line with the women's hockey team,, the Mount Royal men's hockey team secured two significant wins over the Regina Cougars over the weekend at Flames Community Arenas. On Friday night MRU dominated Regina during the home opener, winning 5-1. Saturday's tilt proved to be much more of a battle for Mount Royal. Regina miraculously tied the game at four with 0.4 seconds remaining in the third period, sending the game to overtime. Despite Regina's rally, MRU finished the job and won in overtime to remain unbeaten through two games.

The Players Bench Male Athlete of the Week is Connor Blake. The fifth-year defenseman put up an astounding two goals and two assists during the weekend's games, also registering seven shots and a plus/minus of +2. Most notably, Blake came up clutch for the Cougars, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime on Saturday. He was a strong presence on the blue line, leading his team to both victories. The weekend was extra special for Blake, as before Saturday's thrilling game, he was part of a pregame ceremonial puck drop with the family of the late Tim Callaghan. Callaghan is an MRU Cougars men's hockey alumni who passed away in 2021. The Callaghan family has generously started the Tim Callaghan Memorial Hockey Scholarship, which is "awarded to a Cougars' men's hockey player who shows dedication to their academics and demonstrates outstanding leadership and character through their commitment to the team." The inaugural recipient of the scholarship was the recently named captain of the team, Connor Blake.

Blake is enrolled in Mount Royal's Health and Physical Education Program.