After a well-needed week off from their classes, the Cougars' student-athletes put together a special weekend on the road. With the men's soccer team playing two games on the road and both hockey teams playing a game away from home, MRU's athletics teams combined for three wins and just one loss in their four matchups. As classes resume, learn how the Cougars were able to execute such a successful weekend. 

WHKY: Friday, Oct. 18 vs Calgary Dinos

The first Crowchild Classic series of the 2024/25 Canada West women's hockey season did not disappoint. While the Cougars entered the matchup as heavy favourites, bringing a 4-0-0 record with them on their trip to Father David Bauer Arena, the Dinos, who skated on to the rink with a 2-1-1 record, would prove to be more than just some plucky underdogs down the street. In a hard-fought Friday night rivalry matchup, the Dinos defeated the Cougars 3-1.

The Cougars went down early in the game as they gave up one goal in each of the first and second periods, putting them in a 2-0 deficit. Their championship DNA helped them get a goal in the third period to bring it to 2-1, finally breaking Scout Anderson's 19-save-long streak and giving them a fighting chance late in the game.

A Sydney Benko breakout in the 17th minute of the final period of play gave the Cougars plenty of time on the attack, as the puck stayed in the offensive zone for almost a full minute. Anderson looked infallible as she made save after save on every lethal Cougars strike. But, with just over two minutes left in the period and 50 seconds into the powerplay, Jori Hansen-Young turned her rebound on the right side of the net into a pass to Lyndsey Janes across the ice. Janes found a wide-open Lyvia Butz by the left post, who scored her first goal of the season to cut the deficit to just one.

The Dinos retaliated quickly, capitalizing on the Cougars' empty-net gamble by scoring with 16 seconds left in the final period of play to push the game to its final score of 3-1. Even though that broke the Cougars' win streak, MRU took revenge with a home win on Saturday to remain first in the division with a 5-1-0 record. 

MSOC: Friday, Oct. 18 vs Saskatchewan Huskies

While most Cougars fans were drawn to the Crowchild Classic games, the men's soccer team marched across the provincial border and, in Aidan Dumoulin's return from injury, handed the University of Saskatchewan Huskies a 2-1 loss in Saskatoon.

The Huskies put up some impressive box score numbers in the first half of the game, doubling the Cougars in shots, but only one of them was on goal. Meanwhile, the Cougars prioritized quality over quantity as two of their three first-half shots forced Huskies keeper Jaron Slopinski to make key saves. 

Dumoulin looked phenomenal in this game and was tasked early in the match as he saved a sixth-minute shot from Robert Mackay. That save boosted the team's momentum as Jonathan Walter returned fire in the 29th minute but was rejected by Slopinski. Joshua Flaksman put one more attempt on the net in the final minute but was stopped and the teams remained in a 0-0 stalemate after the first half.

The action picked up in the latter 45 minutes as both teams registered shots on goal, with Ethan Cabral being denied by Dumoulin and Slopinski stopping Walter a second time. The keepers could only remain perfect for so long, though, as Dumoulin attempted to catch and intercept a corner kick but dropped the ball. Eager to capitalize on the error was Luke Mackie, who fired a shot and scored the game's first goal in the 58th minute to give his Huskies a 1-0 lead.

The Cougars fought hard to get back into the game, blocking shots and generating corners time and time again. In the 71st minute, Timon Haetscher scored his first goal of the season to tie the game at one goal apiece. Walter was challenged in the Huskies' box, leaving the ball loose for Haetscher to rip a shot past Slopinski and level the playing field for the Cougars.

This gave MRU tangible momentum as, less than 10 minutes later, graduating senior Ethan Keen fired one of his signature long-distance free-kick shots into the top left corner of Slopinski's net. The Huskies keeper made the initial save but only just, as it deflected off the crossbar to a wide-open Felix Liebich, who headed the ball right into the net to score his third goal of the season and the final goal of the game. 

The Huskies generated two more scoring opportunities, both from headers, and even hit the crossbar on their second attempt, but could not convert as the Cougars left the pitch victorious by a 2-1 margin and improved their regular-season record to 6-2-5.

MHKY: Saturday, Oct. 19 vs Calgary Dinos

Keen to avenge their female counterparts, the Cougars men's hockey team put on a show for their first Crowchild Classic weekend of the season. Walking into their two-game slate against the U of C Dinos, the boys were 4-0-0 and remained undefeated after securing a resounding 1-0 victory at Father David Bauer Arena on Saturday night, putting them on a six-game heater to start their 2024/25 Canada West Season.

The Dinos were looking for payback on Saturday night after losing 4-1 to the Cougars at Flames Community Arena. Their zealous pursuit of the win led to a less disciplined style of play as they picked up their first of four penalties in the game halfway through the first period. 

The Cougars' powerplay was relentless, not conceding a single clearance for 50 straight seconds. They were rewarded when Clay Hanus received the puck at the point and slid a pass to Connor Bouchard, who found Robbie Holmes on a cross-ice pass right beside the Dinos net. Holmes deflected the shot past Calgary goaltender Carl Tetachuk to score the lone goal of the game and put his team up 1-0.

Neither team scored for the remainder of the game as Farkas remained flawless in net to help the Cougars take down the Dinos 1-0 in Father David Bauer Arena and improve their win streak to six consecutive games. MRU is one of only two teams to be undefeated six games into the season, joining the University of Alberta Golden Bears in the 6-0-0 club.

MSOC: Sunday, Oct. 20 vs Lethbridge Pronghorns

On the final night of their championship-defending season, the Cougars men's soccer team traveled south to the University of Lethbridge to take on the Pronghorns. With Dumoulin resting to prepare for a second consecutive deep run in the upcoming Canada West Men's Soccer Playoffs, Sjard Strauss and the rest of the team made one more deposit in the win column, dominating the home team 4-1.

The Cougars looked energetic from the first whistle to the last, doubling the Pronghorns' three-shot attempts in the first half and scoring three goals in the first 45 minutes of the game.

Miguel Da Rocha opened his team's scoring tab in the 20th minute, turning Ben Creswick's backheel pass into a spinning shot over Armaan Thawer to give his team a 1-0 advantage. Da Rocha went back for seconds just 10 minutes later, streaking behind Lethbridge's defense and using his adept touch to settle a full-field pass and fire a shot right past Thawer for his 7th goal of the season, putting the Cougars up 2-0.

Da Rocha wasn't done with his first-half onslaught and scored his hat-trick goal in stoppage time. Bwidju Mutongolo sent an eye-level cross into the box and Da Rocha, with all the confidence he could muster, back-flipped and bicycle-kicked a bullet shot past Thawer for his eighth goal of the year to give the Cougars a 3-0 first-half advantage.

Lethbridge came out of the halftime break with much more energy and capitalized on it in the 67th minute of action when Holden Lehr turned an errant cross into a bottom-right-corner goal to bring the score to 3-1.

Eager to steal back momentum, the Cougars unleashed a series of shots against Thawer. After stopping a slew of scoring chances, Thawer eventually allowed a rebound to travel to the left side of the box. With no defender in sight to regain possession, Tim Beckedahl sprinted to the ball and fired a shot off of Thawer into the back of the net, scoring his first goal of the season and the Cougars' final point.

The Pronghorns generated three more shots before the final whistle but could not score a second goal as the Cougars emerged from the 90-minute battle victorious by a 4-1 margin. MRU ended their season with a 7-2-5 record and will look to defend their 2023 Canada West Championship in the upcoming 2024 Men's Soccer Playoffs.