VANCOUVER – Faced with a do-or-die situation Saturday night, the Mount Royal Cougars found a way to grind out a 3-2 win over the UBC Thunderbirds, forcing a third and deciding game in the best-of-three Canada West semifinal series.
Tied at two after a raucous opening period, the eventual game winner came midway through the third when a fortuitous bounce off the corner glass saw the puck land right in the slot for Riley Sawchuk who buried his first of the playoffs, pushing the series to the distance.
"That was a really gritty effort from our group tonight," said MRU Head Coach Bert Gilling. "It's really tough when you lose that first game of a series, and it's a lot of mental warfare. Our preparation was good, there was just kind of a steely eyed determination amongst the group today and I thought we came out very business like and did our job."
The first 15 minutes of the first period belonged to the Cougars who certainly came out with purpose, resulting in a pair of goals six minutes apart to stake out a two-goal lead.
Nolan Yaremko's third of the post-season opened scoring 9:24 into the period with a wrister from the right faceoff circle off a cross-ice feed from Andrew Fyten.
Fyten then picked up his second point of the period and second goal of the playoffs at the 15:24 mark when he skated behind the T-Birds net, roofing the puck past a partially screened Rylan Toth from a sharp angle.
But the 'Birds quickly swung momentum in their favour with two goals in the final 2:02 to enter the break on even terms.
Jonathan Smart blasted his first of the playoffs from the point, past Riley Morris stick side to give the hosts some much needed life.
Then with just 26 seconds remaining in the period, Austin Glover picked up a rebound just outside the crease and buried it on the backhand for his second point of the game.
Following a scoreless second period, a sense of potential overtime was just beginning to creep in when Sawchuk scored the go-ahead goal at 7:44 of the third.
A dump into the nearside corner saw the puck bounce off the glass right to the prolific rookie scorer who had nothing but net to shoot at after Toth had come out to play the puck before the unluckiest of bounces.
The T-Birds pressed hard with the extra attacker late in the period with the Jake Kryski-Scott Atkinson-Chris Douglas line nearly scoring the tying marker on multiple occasions, but the Cougars held on to stay alive for another day.
"We had more than enough chances to score, we were just kind of snakebitten in front of their net," said UBC Head Coach Sven Butenschon. "We knew it was going to be a tough series, it was probably going to go the full three games, so no surprise."
After game one's penalty filled affair, both teams saw only two power play chances Saturday with the Cougars finishing 1-for-2 while UBC failed on both their chances.
Morris made 32 saves in the win as the Cougars outshot the T-Birds 38-34.
Game three, with a berth in the Canada West final against the Alberta Golden Bears on the line, goes Sunday at 7:30 p.m. PT. at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
"The juices will be flowing, these games are fun," added Butenschon of the elimination scenario. "I played in them, I coached in them a couple years ago when we had some success in the playoffs, they're so much fun. You can really grow as a player and as a team in these situations. If we have to win it in three, then we win it in three."
Tickets are available for free but must be reserved in advance. The game will also be streamed live on Canada West TV.
