Topple Thunder twice

A pair of weekend wins over the Concordia Thunder has the Mount Royal University Cougars keeping pace in ultra tight ACAC men’s hockey division.

A 5-0 win on Friday, followed up by a 4-3 win on Saturday, kept the Cougars in second place over the weekend, with only four points separating the ACAC leading SAIT Trojans and the third placed Augustana Vikings.

Scoreless through the first period on Friday, the Cougars found their scoring touch in the second frame as Brendan Turnbull, Darnell Glass and Barry Horman all tallied markers to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead after two periods.

The third period continued to tilt in the Cougars favour, as Jeremy Wagner and Jason MacDonald would extend the lead to five – as the Cougars team continued to dominate, limiting the Thunder to just four shots in the period and 15 in the game.

Former Concordia Thunder goalie, Justin Cote, earned the win in goal for the Cougs’, his second in as many tries versus his former squad this season.

After an impressive road showing, the Cougars headed back down to Calgary and Flames Community Arenas for round two on Saturday.

A night after thrashing the Thunder 5-0, the Cougars were in for a more tightly contested battle, narrowly escaping with a 4-3 win.

After building a two goal lead through the first period on goals by Brad Goss and Grant Toulmin, the Thunder would find their way onto the score sheet in the second, tying the game at two apiece as Kyle MacDonald notched a powerplay goal and minutes later Ian Hall added a marker to tie the game at two.

The score would only be tied for 11 seconds, as off the ensuing faceoff, defenceman Darnell Glass would add his second of the weekend and third goal of the year to restore the Cougars lead to one after two periods of play.

Midway through the third, the Cougars would extend their lead back to two, as Joe Vetere converted on one of six Cougars powerplay opportunities of the evening, leaving the score at  4-2 Cougars.

The Thunder would give the blue and white a late scare, pulling to within one off a powerplay goal of their own, but it would prove to be too little too late, as the Cougars would skate away with the 4-3 win and weekend sweep.

Goalie Justin Cote earned his third win of 2011, staying unbeaten so far in the new year to improve the Cougars record to 14-4-2 on the season, three points back of the SAIT Trojans for top spot.

The Cougars will be back on home ice next Friday, January 21st to take on the Grant MacEwan Griffins, before heading to Edmonton on Saturday. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.

The Cougars will be looking for a pair of wins versus the Griffins, whom they have already defeated twice this season in convincing fashion, 7-2 and 5-2 respectively.