Lauren Focht's first career Canada West goal gave the University of Regina Cougars a 2-1 victory over Trinity Western in a women's hockey game at The Co-operators Centre on Friday night.
Jordan Kulbida also scored for the Cougars, while
Arden Kliewer made 22 saves to help the U of R collect its second consecutive regulation victory.
"Kliewer was good for us tonight and saved our bacon a couple of times, but we'll definitely need to be sharper tomorrow," Cougars head coach
Sarah Hodges said. "That said, it's always great to get the two points and I'm happy we found a way to win it."
Neisha Germann scored for Trinity Western, which falls to 0-6-1-0 with the setback.
Kulbida's goal, her third of the year, came on a fine individual effort where she came in 1-on-2 and got into shooting position with a nice move to her forehand and beat Trinity Western goalie Kate Fawcett with a wrist shot.
The effort by Kulbida stood as the game's lone goal until the Spartans knotted up the game on the power play in the second. Germann, TWU's captain, went high blocker on a shot from near the top of the left faceoff circle to notch her second of the season.
Focht's goal came on the power play midway through the third period after Kulbida intercepted a clearing attempt and found the rookie winger at the top of the right faceoff circle. Focht stepped into a shot and wired it by Fawcett, scoring what would turn out to be the game-winning goal as Kliewer and the Cougars kept the Spartans off the board the rest of the way.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday afternoon at The Co-operators Centre. Game time is set for 3:00 PM.
NOTES: Friday's game saw a total of 11 minor penalties called ... Trinity Western finished 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Cougars were 1-for-6 ... Regina outshot Trinity Western by a 35-23 margin.
