Cougars win to set up first place showdown with SAIT

With the most anticipated matchup of the season taking place this upcoming weekend, the Mount Royal Cougar men’s hockey team got a nice tune-up Wednesday night as they faced off against the Portage Voyageurs. The Cougars are set to face the first place SAIT Trojans in a home and home this weekend in their last two games of the regular season.

The unusual Tuesday night slot was the result of a Jan. 28th game that had to be rescheduled due to electrical failure at the Portage arena. The two teams met in the neutral town of Killam, and put on an exciting display, with 85 total shots on net between the two squads. Justin Cote was excellent again for the Cougars, stopping 35 of 37 shots for a 5-2 win.

Barry Horman(1G, 2A) and Jesse Perrin (3A) led the way for the Cougars with three points each, and both Eric Galbraith and Joe Vetere each had a goal and an assist.

The Cougars opened the scoring early in the first period, as Jeremy Wagner converted a Grant Toulmin assist to grab the early lead. The Voyageurs answered quickly, beating Cote less than two minutes later to make it 1-1.

Jason MacDonald got into the action at 15:07 of the same period, and took a great pass from Galbraith to take a 2-1 lead into the second period.

The Voyageurs opened the second period with a spearing penalty just five seconds in, and would pay for it 14 seconds later as Galbraith took a pass from Perrin and beat Voyageur netminder Dallas Ungurian for what stood as the game-winning goal.

The Voyageurs scored a powerplay goal of their own at 16:55, capitalizing on a high sticking penalty by MacDonald just six seconds earlier. That’s as close as they would get, as they were unable to solve Cote the rest of the way.

The Cougars continue to look good on their powerplay, scoring two goals in 1:14 with the man-advantage. Horman scored first at 10:11 of the third, again assisted by Perrin, and Vetere would put the nail in the coffin at 11:25 of the final frame.

The Cougars will host SAIT on Friday night in the first game of the home and home series. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.