Female Athlete of the Week

The MRU Cougars women's hockey team came away with two momentous wins over the University of Alberta Pandas this past weekend. The Cougars went into the weekend series sitting just behind Alberta in the standings but thanks to the two victories, MRU jumped in front of the Pandas to earn second overall in the Canada West.

The Players Bench Female Athlete of the Week is Emma Bergesen. The reigning Canada West Defender of the Year scored a goal and added two assists to tie her with forwards Athena Hauck and Aliya Jomha for the team lead in points (9). In Friday's away game, Bergesen tallied an assist with a point shot that was deflected in front by Allee Gerrard. After the game headed to overtime, Bergesen scored on a fantastic wrist shot, beating the Alberta netminder to win the game for Mount Royal. On Saturday, the Norwegian registered an assist on Lyndsey Janes' game-tying goal, sending the game to an eventual shootout where the Cougars would prevail once again.

Bergesen is a fourth-year student enrolled in MRU's sociology program.

Male Athlete of the Week

Cougars men's hockey took on the University of Alberta Golden Bears for a pair of games over the weekend. On Friday, Mount Royal hosted the Golden Bears at Flames Community Arenas and secured a 5-1 blowout win. MRU then headed up the highway for a rematch. In the second game of the weekend series, Alberta claimed the win by a score of 6-3.

The Players Bench Male Athlete of the Week is Connor Bouchard. The forward registered two goals and three assists in the two games against Alberta, tying him for the league lead in points with 22 through just 10 games played. On Friday, Bouchard scored on a breakaway just 20 seconds into the second period to make it 2-0. In the same period, the former Tri-City American added two assists on goals from Robbie Holmes and Clayton Hanus. On Saturday, Bouchard scored a highlight-reel goal, deking around the Golden Bears defence and roofing it with his backhand. The goal brought Mount Royal within one with five minutes remaining in the third period; however, the Golden Bears were able to add two empty net goals to steal the victory over Bouchard and the Cougars. 

Bouchard, a second-year student at MRU, was also named Canada West Men's Hockey Player of the Week for his outstanding performance.