The University of Regina's men's hockey team lost 4-3 to the MacEwan University Griffins on Friday night.
 
The Griffins scored three goals in the second period en route to their first ever Canada West victory. Riley Brandt scored a goal and added an assist to lead the way for MacEwan. Cougars forward Tanner Nagel scored two goals in the loss.
 
A hard-fought first period ended in a scoreless tie for both teams. Regina had two power plays in the opening frame but couldn't covert on either of them. The Griffins also had an early chance on the power play but came away with nothing. At the first intermission, Regina had 11 shots on net while the Griffins had six.
 
Early in the second period, Regina got called on a tripping and an unsportsmanlike penalty to give the Griffins a 5-on-3 opportunity. Colin Schmidt received a nice pass from Riley Brandt and beat Brandon Holtby on a quick deke for the first goal of the game. With 13 minutes left in the period, MacEwan's Brandt snuck through the Cougars defenders for a breakaway goal. Less than a minute later, Griffins forward Ethan Price scored to make it a 3-0 game.
 
MacEwan committed back-to-back penalties to give the Cougars their own 5-on-3 chance. On the power play, Regina's Tanner Nagel scored on a one-timer from Conner Chaulk to make it 3-1 with 8:37 left in the second period. Regina had a 10-9 shot advantage in the second period.
 
Less than a minute into the third period, Nagel scored his second of the game from another nice feed by Chaulk to bring the Cougars within one. The Griffins regained the two-goal lead on a Kobe Mohr power play goal. That goal would stand as the game winner as Chaulk scored for the Cougars to make it 4-3 with nine minutes left in the final frame. The Cougars pulled their goalie but couldn't tie the game for their first loss of the season.
 
Cougars captain Conner Chaulk recorded a game-high three points on the night for the Cougars. MacEwan goaltender James Porter made 31 saves for the win. Brandon Holtby made 23 saves between the pipes for the Cougars in the loss.
 
The two teams will have a rematch tomorrow, at 3:00 pm, at the Co-operators Centre.

 

GOAL!

Tanner Nagel rips one into the net for the Cougars first goal of the season!

It's now a 3-1 game! pic.twitter.com/ClcFDuo9dp

— UofR Men's Hockey (@UofRMensHockey) October 16, 2021