Cougars can't be beat; more to 6-0

A hockey team’s main goal is to hone their craft as the regular season progresses, so that by the time the playoffs roll around, that team is playing their best hockey.

If that is indeed the case, the Mount Royal women’s hockey team is going to be one scary opponent come February.

The Cougar women entered Thursday night’s matchup with the Red Deer College Queens with an undefeated 4-0 record, and had outscored their previous opponents by an average of over three goals a game. Solid goaltending and even better offense have kept the Cougars atop the standings, and they have no plans of relinquishing that spot anytime soon.

The Cougars beat the Queens 5-1 in the Queen’s home arena, and had four players with two points apiece, looking every bit as dominant as they have since they first began the regular season. Megan Price and Hedi Syme each had a goal and an assist to lead the rout.

Price and Syme each scored in the first period as the Cougars completely dominated the play. The Cougars allowed only three shots in the opening frame, and the Cougars outshot the Queens 32-15 on the night. Cougar goaltender Leanne Pfliger was rarely tested, aside from a short outburst from the Queens late in the third period after the game was essentially in the books.

The Queens’ scored their lone goal on the powerplay with just under five minutes remaining in the contest, the only bright spot in an otherwise difficult night for the home team.

Also scoring for the Cougars was Sara Sharp, Tash Ferrier and Chelsey Morrill, while Chrissy Hodgson, Jesslyn Legasse and Tanika Dawson each added two assists.

The only real difference in Saturday’s home game against the Red Deer College Queens was the change of venue, as the Cougars moved to 6-0 after a decisive 4-1 victory at the Flames Community Arenas.

Hedi Syme had a goal and an assist for her second straight two-point outing, and Chrissy Hodgson again showed off her playmaking abilities with another two-assist performance.
The game got off to a fast start with three goals scored in the game’s first four minutes.

With just over a minute gone in the first period, Shyla Stadnicki put one past Queens’ goaltender Courtney Rea to take the early lead.

The Queens struck back just 18 seconds later to knot the score at 1-1, but not even two minutes later the Cougars reclaimed the lead as Syme scored her second goal of the weekend to make it 2-1 Cougars.

The Queens would be held off the scoresheet for the remainder of the game as the Cougars showed the home crowd that their defence was just as formidable as their offence. Goaltender Kendall Kilgour stopped 17 of 18 shots, but saw only three shots in the final period of play.

Raylene Cutknife and Chelsey Morrill also scored for the Cougars, who are now outscoring their opponents 24-6 through six games this season.

It’s hard to criticize anything the Cougar women are doing these days, but one area of potential concern for head coach Scott Rivett has to be the special teams work done on the powerplay.

The Cougars were a combined 2 of 16 with the man-advantage over the weekend, and although Rea was outstanding in net for the Queens on Saturday, the Cougars will need to improve on these numbers as the competition becomes stiffer, and the games more meaningful. For now, though, the Cougars are playing incredible full strength hockey, and looking more fearsome with every outing.

Note: Rea had an outstanding game for the Queens on Saturday, stopping 30 of 34 Cougar shots, including 15 in the third period alone.