Box Score
In a fierce "Battle of the Cougars," the Mount Royal University Cougars emerged victorious over the Regina Cougars, winning 5-4 in overtime to complete the weekend sweep in the opening games of the Canada West men's hockey season.

Regina burst out of the gates, opening the scoring in the first minute of the game. Paycen Bjorklund fired a hard wrist shot past MRU goalie Shane Farkas to put the away team ahead early.

However, Mount Royal had a quick answer. Tim Gould, who had been moved up to forward after playing defence during Friday's tilt, evened the score with a goal of his own.

The MRU Cougars took the lead later in the first period with a tally from gritty Cougars forward Robbie Holmes. The former Regina Pat potted a powerplay goal, giving MRU their first lead of the game.

In the second period, Holmes struck again, adding to the Mount Royal lead. Remy Aquilon made an excellent seeing-eye pass on the powerplay to find Holmes, and the winger tapped the puck into the gaping net.

Regina wouldn't go down without a fight and cut the lead back down to one. Jayden Davis beat Shane Farkas midway through the second, bringing the away team within one.

Mount Royal was able to regain their two-goal lead late in the period. Cougars captain Connor Blake fired a shot off the chest of Regina netminder Adam Evanoff, leaving a loose puck for Remy Aquilon to tap in and restore the multi-goal cushion.

The resilient group from Regina wouldn't go away. Jakob Brook brought them within one once again, setting up a tense final few minutes of regulation.

In improbable fashion, the Regina Cougars tied up the game to send it to overtime. They desperately sent the puck towards the MRU net and jammed it across the line with 0.4 seconds remaining. The pesky team from Saskatchewan just would not give up.

In the ensuing overtime period, the perfect moment happened for Mount Royal. On the night he received the inaugural Tim Callaghan Memorial Hockey Scholarship, Connor Blake fired a shot past Adam Evanoff to win the game for MRU, right in front of the Callaghan family.

It was a moment that will be remembered by both Blake and the Callaghan family forever.

"Tim Callaghan was obviously a very important player in Mount Royal Cougars history," said Blake following his OT winner. "It was incredible to have his family here to honor him and his memory."

"To have that poetic ending right in front of them just made it that much sweeter," added Blake. "I'm almost getting emotional talking about it. It was a really special moment."

The Mount Royal Cougars will take their 2-0 record into next weekend when they play a home-and-home series against the University of Alberta Golden Bears. Both games next weekend can be streamed live on Canada West TV.