Box Score Game Summary

University of Regina second-year forward Kyle Ross scored a regulation goal and added the winner in the shootout as the Cougars took down the No. 1-ranked Alberta Golden Bears by a 3-2 score on Friday night in a fast-paced Canada West game at the Sherwood Ice Sports Centre.

Ross and Ryan Sawka scored for the Cougars in regulation, while Lee Zalasky and Ian McDonald replied for Alberta. Adam Ward was solid again for Regina between the pipes, turning aside 34 shots to secure the win, which improves the Cougars' record to 9-12-2 on the season.

“It was a hard-fought battle out there,” Cougars head coach Blaine Sautner said. “We usually play Alberta tough and tonight was no different. We killed some important penalties in the third and had some huge blocked shots down the stretch.”

Ross opened up the scoring 81 seconds into the contest after Dillon Johnstone found him wide open in front of the Alberta net. Ross went five-hole on Aaron Sorochan to give the Cougars an early one-goal lead. Neither team was able to score for the remainder of the period, in which Regina outshot the Golden Bears by a 10-8 margin.

The second period was scoreless, despite Alberta peppering Ward with 21 shots. The Cougars had ten shots of their own, but lost the services of Johnstone after he was assessed a two-minute checking-from-behind minor and a game misconduct at the 5:19 mark of the middle stanza.

Alberta finally got to Ward early in the third. Zalasky had the puck behind the Cougar net and banked it in off of Ward's skates to score his team-leading 11th goal of the campaign with just over three minutes gone in the period.

Sawka restored Regina's one-goal lead with an improbable backhander from the corner, but Alberta had a quick answer. Less than two minutes later, Ward made several point-blank saves during a scramble in front of the Regina net, but the Golden Bears' McDonald collected a rebound at the side of the net and roofed a shot to tie the game at two.

The Cougars had two key penalty kills late in the third, as Caine Pearpoint was given a goalie interference penalty with five minutes remaining and another for cross checking at 17:44. Alberta outshot Regina by a 5-4 margin in the period.

Overtime solved nothing, with both teams registering two shots. In the shootout, Ward stopped Derek Ryan, McDonald, and Chad Klassen. Dylan Chapman had an unsuccessful attempt for the Cougars before Ross' attempt, in which he made several dekes before finally going to his backhand and lifting it over Sorochan's shoulder for what would prove to be the winner.

Sorochan made 24 saves for Alberta in the loss. The Golden Bears were 1-for-7 on the power play and outshot Regina 36-26 during the contest. The Cougars were unsuccessful on their two power play opportunities.

The loss breaks Alberta's nine-game winning streak, but the Golden Bears have still registered at least one point in each of their past 15 games. Alberta is 17-2-2 on the season and holds a six-point lead atop the conference over second-place Saskatchewan.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at the Sherwood Ice Sports Centre. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

NOTES: Friday's win was the first for the Cougars over the Golden Bears since Jan. 20, 2006 … the win was Regina's first over a No. 1-ranked team since Jan. 7, 2006, when the Cougars defeated Saskatchewan 5-1 … a win for the Cougars on Saturday night would give Regina its first weekend sweep over Alberta since November of 1991 … Zalasky now has points in his last five games for Alberta, scoring six goals and two assists in that span.