CALGARY - The Mount Royal University Cougars climbed to fourth spot in the Canada West rankings thanks to a strong third period push and an eventual 2-1 a victory over the UBC Thunderbirds at the Flames Community Arenas.
 
Anna Purschke led the way for the hosts with four shots on net and one goal while Mackenzie Kordic finished with two shots on net and one goal for the T-Birds
 
The final shots were 26-18 for Mount Royal.
 
Mount Royal set the pace for the first period, keeping much of the play in the Thunderbirds zone. However, UBC was successfully keeping the Cougars to the outside with their strong team defence and the period ended with no goals.


 
Frustration started to mount in the second frame as the two teams struggled to take charge of the game. The Thunderbirds team speed was on display in outskating the Cougars in several instances but they failed to make a dent in the scoreboard.
 
The game took a real shift in the third as the pressure was on. After seven minutes of play, Mount Royal forward Purschke finally found an opportunity to slip past the defenders and fire the puck into the net to open the scoring. At the 14-minute mark, Cougars' Emma Bergesen extended the lead to 2-1 thanks to a long shot from the blue line that eluded Thunderbirds goalie Tory Micklash. In response, UBC pulled their goalie in hopes of sparking some offence and it paid of with less than a minute to play as Kordic earned the first goal of her USPORTS career on a rebound with the assist going to Hannah Koroll. The Thunderbirds made one final push, but were unable to close the gap by the buzzer.
 
The teams will face off for the final time on Saturday, February 8th, at the Flames Community Arenas. It will be broadcasted live on CanadaWest.tv, presented by Co-op.