The University of Regina's men's hockey team faced a stiff challenge on Friday night against the top-ranked team in the country, with the Alberta Golden Bears coming out with a 4-2 win at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.

Brandon Holtby was sensational for Regina, stopping 42 of the 45 shots he faced in a tremendous performance. Conner Chaulk and Tristan Frei scored for the Cougars, while Grayson Pawlenchuk scored twice for Alberta with Steven Owre and Chad Butcher also scoring for the Golden Bears.

Alberta opened the first outshooting Regina 14-0, which resulted in their first goal 11 minutes in. Pawlenchuk scored his eighth, batting the puck out of the air and past Holtby from the slot.
 
Chaulk evened the game at 1-1 just over three minutes later, beating Burke off a nice feed in tight from Arthur Miller, with Chaulk scoring his second of the season.
 
Pawlenchuk restored Alberta's one-goal lead late, beating Holtby clean with a wrister from 10 feet out.
 
Holtby, however, was the story in the second period, as he stopped all 13 shots he faced in the frame. He also held the Bears powerplay without a goal, as they finished 0-for-3.
 
His heroics would only last so long, as Owre extended the Bears lead just 32 seconds into the third, beating the Cougars netminder from his knees in front of the Regina net.
 
Like they did in the first, Regina was able to respond with a goal of their own late in the third. Frei capitalized on a Bears giveaway, beating Burke on a breakaway.
 
That was as close as Regina would come, as Burke made a couple saves late, coupled with Butcher's empty net goal, sealing the 4-2 win.
 
The two teams will close out their series tomorrow night, with puck drop for the rematch scheduled for 7:00 at Clare Drake Arena.