One game away from ACAC final

The Mount Royal Cougar men finally began their playoff series Friday as they faced off against the Augustana Vikings.

Bad weather stranded both teams and pushed the series back a week, so the two teams played three games in three days over the weekend as the Cougars jumped out to a 2-1 series lead.

The Cougars won the opening game 5-2 on Friday before dropping game two to the Vikings on Saturday, 4-2. The Cougars stormed back on Sunday with an offensive onslaught, beating the Vikings 7-4 and placing the Augustana men on the brink of elimination.

Barry Horman (2G, 1A) and rookie Bradley Goss (1G, 2A) led the way with three point nights in game one at Flames Community Arenas.

The Vikings opened the scoring on the powerplay at 5:19 of the first, after a Curtis Beech hooking penalty left the Cougars a man down.

The Cougars responded a little over five minutes later as Brendan Turnbull scored his first of two powerplay goals on the night to draw even with the visitors.

Late in the second period, Goss hooked up with Horman who made it 2-1 Cougs heading into the third.

The Vikings would get one back on the penalty kill at 8:56 of the third, capitalizing on a Cougar giveaway to make it 2-2.

The familiar combination of Horman, Goss and Jeremy Roberts (2A) got together again on the powerplay just 1:06 later to take a 3-2 lead, and Turnbull scored his second on another powerplay 45 seconds later to make it 4-2.

Goss buried an empty netter at 18:42 to take game one, 5-2.

Game two at Encana Arena didn’t go too well for the Cougars as the Vikings seemed to find their game in their home building.

One night after going 3-for-8 on the powerplay, the Cougars went just 1-for-7 Saturday as Viking netminder Paul Kolida turned away 29 of 31 shots in the win.

The Cougars, already down 2-0 heading into the second period, finally got on the board at 6:15 as Jason MacDonald was able to beat Kolida to cut the lead to one.

The Vikings answered back less than six minutes later, beating Cougar goaltender Justin Cote to reclaim a two goal lead.

Goss continued his strong play on Saturday, scoring the Cougars’ lone powerplay goal at 9:34 of the third period, again from Roberts and Horman, to give the Cougars some hope.

Those hopes were dashed 1:13 later as the Vikings made it 4-2. The Cougars would pull Cote with 58 seconds remaining, but weren’t able to get any closer as the series was evened at 1-1.

The Cougars bounced back at home for game three of the best-of-five series, getting the best of the Vikings in a high scoring affair that had five goals in the first period alone.

The Vikings jumped out to another quick 2-0 lead in the opening period after scoring two quick powerplay goals in the game’s first eight minutes.

Coleton Thielmann answered for the Cougars mid-way through the opening frame, but leading playoff scorer Torrie Dyck quickly pushed the lead back to two for his first of two goals on the night.

Jason MacDonald scored the period’s fifth goal at 17:11 to trim the lead to one heading into the second frame.

MacDonald tied it up with his second goal of the night at 6:50 of the second off a feed from Joe Vetere, who had two assists on the night.

Eric Galbraith returned from suspension to put the Cougars up one at 13:19, but the Vikings would knot it up 18 seconds later to make it 4-4 heading into the final frame.

The third period was all Cougars as Grant Toulmin and Brad Goss scored in the frame’s first ten minutes to chase Kolida from the Viking net. Jordon Harrison capped off a three-goal period as the Cougars won 7-4 to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Horman, Vetere and Jessie Griffith each finished with two point nights.

Game four will go Saturday, March 12 at Encana Arena as the Cougars try to eliminate the Vikings and set up a showdown with the SAIT Trojans. The Trojans will be well rested after sweeping the Concordia Thunder in their semi-final matchup.

Game five if necessary will return to the Cougars’ home ice at Flames Community Arenas on Sunday, March 13th. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.