Box Score
CALGARY – Connor Bouchard's three-point performance powered the Mount Royal University Cougars to a bounce-back 3-2 win to hand the University of Calgary Dinos their first loss of the season. 

"It's a big one. Divisional games always are," said Bouchard.

The first period was just seconds away from ending scoreless but a late two-man advantage allowed the Cougars to get on the board with their first goal of the year at home. 

Veteran defenceman Remy Aquilon's point shot got through to the net. Dinos' netminder Carl Stankowski managed to get a piece of the shot with his glove but not enough as the puck trickled across the line with 3.5 seconds left in the opening frame.

Partway through the second, Mount Royal doubled down on their lead. Layton Feist's point shot hit a crowd of bodies in front, with almost every player losing track of the puck except one person: Connor Bouchard.

Bouchard pounced on the loose puck at the goalmouth, whacking it in before Stankowski had a chance to identify where it was.

The Cougars were doing an excellent job of creating traffic in front of the Dinos' net, which ultimately had them up 2-0 over Calgary.

"We want to get around the net and win battles around the net," said Bouchard. "For us, it's all about winning battles. We feel that puts us in a good spot by the end of the game."

Cougars' veteran goaltender Riley Sims picked up his first win of the season, making 25 saves on Saturday.

The Dinos struggled to solve the fifth-year netminder for most of the game and even when they had him beat, they couldn't put the puck in the net. On a late second period powerplay, Jake Poole had a wide-open cage with the puck on his stick in the crease but sent it over the net and out of play. Poole went into Saturday's tilt as the league's leading scorer through three games.

Calgary finally got one past Sims in the third, with captain Adam Kydd scoring on an odd-man rush for his second of the year.

The Cougars managed to restore their two-goal lead with a late powerplay. Josh Tarzwell got his first of the season when he deflected Remy Aquilon's hard shot from the blueline. 

Tarzwell's tally gave MRU much-needed insurance as the Dinos piled on the pressure with the extra attacker late in the contest.

After Sims lost his stick behind his net, Calgary took advantage of the situation. Dinos' rookie Hayden Pakkala scored his third goal of the season to cut the lead back to one with just under two minutes left.

Despite the added pressure from the Dinos, Mount Royal was able to hold on for the victory in their first home game of the 2025-26 campaign. 

The win gives MRU a 2-2 record and their second split of the season. Although the Cougars would prefer to have won more games, they acknowledged that every win matters, even if it's early in the season.

"We know at the end of the year, it's going to be tight," said Bouchard. "Obviously, we'd like the sweep but [the Dinos] are a really good team. To get this one is big."

Next weekend, the Cougars have another home-and-home series, facing off against the MacEwan Griffins in Edmonton on Friday and back at FCA on Saturday.