Calgary – The Mount Royal Cougars started the year off with a huge offensive outburst defeating the Lethbridge Pronghorns 3-1 at MRU Stadium field.
The Cougars came out firing as they peppered Lethbridge's keeper Myriah Mariano early and often. The Cougars let off six shots at Mariano but she stood tall, keeping the score 0-0.
In the 16th minute Lehtbridge turned over the ball to the Cougar's top offensive player Kelsey Kinzer. Mariano made the first save but Kinzner stayed with it, collected her rebound and tapped the ball into the empty net.
Lethbridge answered in the 30th minute as Kayla Blacquiere was able to arc one over the Cougar's keeper from outside the box to tie the game at one. The score would remain tied until half time.
Mount Royal dominated possession throughout the second half. In the 76th minute the Cougars added the go ahead goal. Kinzner drew all the defenders over to her and then threw a nice touch pass over to rookie Emily Sands who made no mistake and gave Mount Royal a 2-1 lead.
Briana Kiel added another goal to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead and that is how it wrapped up.
With the win, Mount Royal moves to 1-0-0 on the season, while Lethbridge drops 0-1-0.
Calgary – The first installment of the 2014-15 Crowchild Classic between the Mount Royal Cougars and the Calgary Dinos ends in a 0-0 draw.
The Cougars were coming off a huge 3-1 win in their home opener against the Lethbridge Pronghorns. Calgary was also 1-0-0 after defeating the Alberta Golden Bears 2-0 yesterday in Edmonton.
The Cougars knew they would be in tough on Sunday after Calgary's defeat of the third ranked team in the nation. The Cougars came out fearlessly, going hard into tackles and coming out with the ball.
Calgary had the majority of the scoring chances but the Cougar's defence bent but didn't break. Defenders Riley Medd and Reghan Zilkie stood tall against the Dino's attack. Cougar's goalkeeper Janelle Chicilo made six big saves to keep the game scoreless.
The Cougars had a chance to go ahead in the 73rd minute when rookie Emily Sands, who was coming off her first Canada West goal yesterday, went for a loose ball and end up colliding hard with the Dino's keeper. The play warranted a caution against Sands but both players were able to shake it off and remain in the game.
The tie gives both the Cougars and Dinos a record of 1-0-1 on the season.
Calgary will have a quick turnaround, hosting Lethbridge on Thursday evening. Mount Royal will head to Saskatchewan next weekend for dates with the Huskies and the Cougars.
After the game, Mount Royal President Dr. David Docherty and Athletic Director Karla Karch completed the ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE.
The game also marked 20 years of Cougars women's soccer.
Via MRU Cougars
