Cougar women back to ACAC final

They say a team’s best hockey should be played in the playoffs, and it looks like the Mount Royal Cougar women are peaking at the right time.

The Cougars capped off a three-game series sweep of the Grant MacEwan Griffins on Friday, taking a 4-2 victory and propelling themselves into the ACAC finals for the second consecutive season.

The Griffins jumped on the Cougars early in game three, scoring a powerplay goal at 4:07 of the first period to make it 1-0.

The Griffins scored again just 12 seconds later to take a quick 2-0 lead, prompting Cougar head coach Scott Rivett to send in goaltender Leanne Pfliger in replacement of starter Kendall Kilgour.

Pfliger wouldn’t be tested much for the rest of the game, finishing with 11 saves on 11 shots as the Griffins lost their offense after the opening minutes of the game.

The Cougars finally got on the board midway through the second as Hedi Syme converted a Chrissy Hodgson feed on the powerplay to pull within one. Syme finished with a three-point night (1G, 2A).

This night was all about special teams, as each of the Cougars’ four goals were scored on the powerplay.

Rookie Tanika Dawson made it 2-2 at 11:22 of the second period when she put home a nice setup pass from Shyla Stadnicki.

Syme was the powerplay’s quarterback for the next two goals, hooking up with Megan Price at 11:39 of the third period to take a 3-2, and then again less than two minutes later as she found Chelsey Morrill, who made it 4-2 to end the Griffins’ hopes of an upset.

The Cougars will meet the SAIT Trojans in game one of the ACAC Finals on March 11th. The Cougars have won all six meetings between the two teams this year. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Full series schedule below:

Game 1 - Friday, March 11th - 7:00 pm @ MRU

Game 2 - Saturday, March 12th 6:00pm @ SAIT
 
Game 3 - Friday, March 18th, 7:00 pm @ MRU

Game 4 – Saturday, March 19th 6:00pm – @ SAIT (If necessary)

Game 5 - Sunday, March 20th 7:00 pm @ MRU (If necessary)