QUICKLY
The No. 6-ranked Mount Royal Cougars survived a late charge by the Regina Cougars on Friday night, holding on for a 3-2 victory in a Canada West women's hockey game at The Co-operators Centre in Regina.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Jerzey Watteyne opened the scoring for Mount Royal five minutes into the contest. Dara Thompson slipped a pass over to an open Watteyne in the slot and while her first shot was stopped by Regina's Natalie Williamson, Watteyne scored on the rebound for her team-leading eighth goal of the season.
• MRU added another one just over three minutes later with Regina's Kaitlyn Gilroy in the box for a tripping minor. Alexandria Spence snapped a hard shot from the top of the left circle, giving the fourth-year defender her second career Canada West goal.
• Mount Royal had a 12-4 advantage in shots in the first, and a 13-6 shot advantage in a scoreless second period as the two teams went into the second intermission with the visitors still up 2-0.
• The Cougars got one on the board early in the third on a play which started with Paige Hubbard and Lauren Focht going in on a 2-on-1. Hubbard's shot was stopped and Focht wasn't able to corral the rebound, but Shaylee Scraba pounced on the puck in the slot and snapped home her fourth of the campaign.
• MRU quickly restored the two-goal lead when Athena Hauck found Allee Gerrard at the side of the net just over two minutes after Scraba's goal, putting the Calgary-based Cougars up 3-1.
• The Cougars mounted a strong late charge after pulling Williamson for an extra attacker late in the third with the U of R on the power play. Trinity Grove was able to convert on the 6-on-4 advantage, jumping on a rebound at the side of the net following a Makena Kushniruk shot to again get Regina back to within one.
• Regina had a golden opportunity to tie it just 45 seconds later with Grove again in the middle of the action. The fourth-year forward had a wide-open net after a U of R shot was blocked, but couldn't get a clean shot off the bouncing puck and the puck went just right of the Mount Royal net.

NOTES

• With three Canada West games remaining, the Cougars (10-11-4) remain four points back of second-place Manitoba in the East Division thanks to Alberta's win over the Bisons on Friday night.
• Mount Royal is now assured of a second-place finish in the West Division. MRU will host either Manitoba or Regina in the Canada West quarterfinals two weekends from now.
• MRU finished with a 35-16 advantage in shots. Mount Royal was 1-for-6 on the power play while Regina was 1-for-3.
• Williamson stopped 32 of MRU's 35 shots.

NEXT UP
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at The Co-operators Centre. Puck drop is set for 5:00 PM.