Box Score

CALGARY –  The MRU Cougars and University of Calgary Dinos women's hockey teams put on a show for the buzzing Scotiabank Saddledome crowd in the 11th installment of the Crowchild Classic.

Mount Royal nearly opened the scoring early with a point-blank shot from Athena Hauck but Amelia Awad stoned the MRU winger with a huge save to keep it scoreless early.

Fresh off a silver medal at the 2025 FISU Winter University Games in Italy, Cougars netminder Kaitlyn Ross was not given much work in the first 20 minutes. She made six routine saves to keep donuts on the board into the first intermission. 

In the second, the Cougars found twine first. Summer Fomradas fired a shot from distance, beating Awad five-hole. The second-year defenceman's goal was the first regulation goal the Cougars had scored at the Crowchild Classic since 2020's game.

Tensions heightened late in the second period when Aliya Jomha looked to jam the puck across the line but was denied. Jomha was met with an escort away from the Dinos' net by Calgary captain Rebecca Clarke, who was not too pleased to see the Cougar forward poke at her goalie.

While on a late powerplay, Mount Royal turned over the puck and Sydney Mercier shot out of a cannon for a partial break. Mercier barely got the shot off before the buzzer sounded by Kaitlyn Ross shut the door to keep the Cougars ahead by one heading into the final frame.

The referees were letting the two rivals play without much enforcement or interference. The hands-off officiating allowed each team to push the envelope of physicality. Even with the elevated physicality the Cougars did not stray from their core gameplan.

"It doesn't necessarily change our game plan but we just have to be aware of it," said Cougars veteran blueliner Alex Spence. "Personally, I enjoy games like this and when they let us play."

With just over seven minutes left in the game, the Dinos finally got one past Ross to draw even. Sydney Mercier fed a pass from below the goal line to Brooklyn Anderson who was cutting hard to the net. Just as Ross went to intercept the pass with her glove Anderson poked the puck under the pads of the MRU netminder. The puck trickled across the line to even the score at one.

Anderson's marker would ultimately force overtime.

Aliya Jomha was called for a tripping penalty early in overtime, however, Mount Royal executed a flawless penalty kill backstopped by Kaitlyn Ross.

The Cougars nearly ended it with a few dangerous chances of their own but the wild 3-on-3 battle would not provide a winner.

In the ensuing shootout, Sydney Mercier scored the lone goal while Amelia Awad stopped all three MRU attempts to give the Dinos a 2-1 win. The victory was Calgary's second straight Crowchild Classic victory.

"Anytime you get to play in an atmosphere like this, you want to rise to the occasion. I think we did rise to it but a few of our details were missed," said Spence.

The Cougars and Dinos will play for the final time in the regular season on Saturday back at the Flames Community Arenas. Tickets for the 5 p.m. puck drop can be purchased online and the game can be streamed live on Canada West TV – Powered BioSteel.