Box Score

The University of Regina's men's hockey team jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but gave up five of the next six goals and lost 5-4 to UBC on Friday night in a Canada West game at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver.

The Cougars took a 4-2 lead into the third, but Brad Hoban notched a goal early in the final period and Nick Buonassisi scored twice in the game's final seven minutes to give UBC the win. Nate Fleming and Anthony Bardaro also scored for UBC, while Liam Brennan, Troy Hunter, and Christian Magnus all scored for the Cougars in the first six minutes of the first period. Mark Schneider added the other goal for the U of R.

Brennan opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game after redirecting a Cody Fowlie shot from the left point through the five-hole of UBC goalie Steven Stanford. The Cougars scored just 31 seconds later when Fowlie got a puck through to Hunter, who was all alone in front of the net and buried it for his first of the year.

And Magnus pushed the lead to 3-0 just three minutes later, breaking down his off wing after a pass from Brody Luhning and firing a shot to the top shelf over Stanford's glove to give the rookie forward his third of the campaign.

The three-goal lead stayed until midway through the second period, when Fleming scored to get the Thunderbirds on the board. Bardaro scored on the power play with just over four minutes left to get UBC to within one, but Schneider scored a goal that was almost identical to his goal from last Friday against Lethbridge. The third-year defenceman walked in from the right boards and fired a snap shot through Matt Hewitt, who replaced Stanford after the first intermission.

But the Cougars' two-goal lead didn't last, as Hoban scored just shy of the two-minute mark in the third period before Buonassisi's two gave the Thunderbirds the lead for good.

The Cougars (2-3-0) will try to salvage a weekend split on Saturday against UBC. Faceoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time and live webcast will be available at canadawest.tv.