Playoff time in Cougar town
Photo by James Paton. Luke Scheuer is knocked to the ice during regular season play. The Cougars men’s hockey team finished third in the ACAC regular season.
It’s playoff time Cougar fans and the athletes who bleed blue and white are hard at work trying to bring home the gold for their student body brethren. Cougars hockey is where Mount Royal has showed the most dominance so far as both the men’s and women’s teams made the finals by winning eight of nine playoff matches. Here’s a look at where Mount Royal teams are sitting so far in the race for number one.
Men’s Hockey
In the ACAC Semi-finals the number three ranked Cougars men’s team split two games on Feb. 27 and 28. On the 27th the Cougars were held scoreless losing 3-0, despite second-ranked NAIT spending almost 20 minutes shorthanded. On home ice for the next night, the Cougars dominated the game, winning by a score of 4-1. Game will be held Friday, Mar. 6 at Calgary’s Centennial Arena at 7 p.m. Cougar players are dominating the playoff scoring race rounding out the top four for leaders. Josh Zimmer sits at number one with one goal and five assists. The team is also leading in playoff power play goals with seven.
Women’s Hockey
Mount Royal’s women’s hockey team will be facing their cross-town rivals, the U of C Dinos, for ACAC gold Mar.6. The lady Cougars pulled off a major upset when the sixth-seeded team took out number one SAIT, winning two of three during the three days series that ran Feb. 25-27. It took double overtimes in Game 3, but in the end the Cougars prevailed with rookie Christina Hodgson netting the game-winning goal. The Cougars are 1-3 when facing the Dinos. In playoff scoring for women’s hockey, Mount Royal owns the top two spots with Chelsea McLean taking number one with two goals and one assist and Sharina Filion taking second spot with two goals.
Men’s Basketball
The men’s basketball team dominated the competition, taking both quarter-final games against NAIT. They’ll face Lethbridge and Red Deer at Concordia Mar. 6-7 to determine their medal standings in ACAC play for the year. If they win both they will move on to the finals at the University of Northern British Columbia on Mar. 20. Fourth- year player Nick Wiebe led the ACAC field percentage for the regular season with 86 of 153 field goals made.
Women’s Basketball
The Cougars women’s basketball team lost both their games in ACAC quarter-final play to The Kings University College 54-64 and 77-87. In regular season play, Mount Royal’s Vanessa Wesolowski finished second in overall scoring for the South Division with 326 points. Mar. 6 will determine the gold medal winner between King’s College and Grant MacEwan.
Men’s Volleyball
The Cougars men’s volleyball team brought home a silver medal from ACAC play in Grande Prairie. It took five sets for the team to be defeated by the Grant MacEwan Griffins in the gold medal match. The silver gives the team four medals in the last four years of ACAC play (two gold, one silver, one bronze).
Badminton
In the ACAC finals, Mount Royal’s Lindsey Bell and Ashley Dixon came away with bronze medals in women’s doubles. March 5-6 will mark the nationals weekend for Mount Royal’s badminton team, with the tourney being hosted by Humber College in Toronto.
