Offense sparks Cougars to victory

With rain, snow and sleet forcing the closure of the MRU soccer pitch, the Cougars took to Martin Cohos Commons Field at SAIT for their lone matchup Saturday with the Lakeland College Rustlers.

The Rustlers, in their inaugural season of ACAC soccer, compete in several other ACAC sports, including basketball and golf, but joined the soccer fray this past season, as the college seeks to expand its athletic program.

Cougar Women – MRU 5 – Lakeland 0

Though the weather outside was cool, the Cougars offense was red hot, as they stretched the Rustlers defense from the opening whistle, finding the back of the net early and often en route to a 5-0 win.

Janelle Carbert, Samantha Humphrys and Gillian Doubleday (3) were all in the scoring mix and Ainsley Cardoso-Wagner secured the shutout for the Cougs’, her first of the season.

With Doubleday’s three goal performance on Saturday, the talented striker moved into first on Mount Royal’s all-time goal scoring list, having scored 29 goals in 26 games in Cougar blue.

With the markers, she surpassed former teammate Julie Cook, who totaled 26 goals during her tenure at MRU.

With the win, the lady Cougars improved to 3-0 on the season, tied with the Red Deer College Queens with nine points.

The Queens and Cougars were originally scheduled to meet on the pitch on Sunday, but with the closure of the MRU fields for the weekend, the game was postponed to Wednesday, Sept. 29 at 5:00 p.m.

The next game for the lady Cougars will be this Saturday, September 25th at 12:00 p.m. as they’ll face off versus the 1-3 SAIT Trojans on their home turf.

Lakeland 1 - MRU 6

For the Lakeland Rustler men, their first match against the Cougars men’s team might be one that they sooner forget about, as they were outplayed and out matched right from the get go versus a talented and experienced Cougars team that features 14 players with at least two years or more of ACAC experience.

Caden Sawatzky, Lane Forsyth, Arthur Paszkowski, Justin Tawtel, Josh Doiron and Tudor Dinca all added their names to the score sheet, as the Cougars offense pounced on the inexperienced Ruslters squad, keeping control of the ball throughout the match on their way to a 6-1 victory.

With the 'W', the Cougar men improve to 2-0-1 on the year, one point behind the SAIT Trojans for first place in the ACAC south division, though the team has played one fewer match than the first place Trojans.

The Cougars and Trojans will get a chance to settle the score on Saturday, as the two teams meet on Martin Cohos Commons Field at 2:00 p.m.

It will be the first meeting between the two clubs since the ACAC gold medal match last season, where the Cougars scored a late equalizer in the final minutes of the match, before claiming their 13th ACAC championship in penalty kicks 4-1.

The match will surely be one of the most entertaining and hotly contested ACAC games of the year, as the wounds from last season’s loss are still fresh for a Trojans, as they seek to avenge their silver medal finish.