CALGARY – It came by very different means from the night prior, but the end result is still the same as the UBC Thunderbirds dropped a second straight 4-3 decision to the Mount Royal Cougars.

Tied 3-3 late in the third, Josh Tarzwell stole the puck at UBC's blue line and raced in on a shorthanded breakaway, scoring his third of the season past Cole Schwebius as the T-Birds head back to Vancouver pointless on the weekend, extending their season long losing streak to four games.

"Today they played way harder, they came out with way more jam and pushed us back and we just had trouble responding," said UBC head coach Sven Butenschon, contrasting his team's dominant play for the bulk of the previous night. "But to our credit, we stayed in it. (Cole Schwebius) made saves to keep us in it and then the game was up for grabs at the end and we went from hitting the post in one minute and giving up the puck for a breakaway in the next."



Tied up 2-2 to start the third, the 'Birds (0-2-1) found themselves down a man to start the period after a scuffle at the end of the previous frame. A tripping call 45 seconds in gave the Cougars (4-0) yet another two-man advantage on the weekend. MRU took full advantage with Clayton Hanus rifling his third of the season for the go-ahead goal.

Less than five minutes later, at the 6:06 mark, the 'Birds responded on a power play of their own, tying the game up once again with Tian Rask's first of the season. Shane Farkas – playing his first game in net for Mount Royal since suffering an injury late last regular season – fought off a Sasha Mutala shot from up high. The puck ping-ponged around before Rask popped it home.

The 'Birds were given another opportunity on the power play, their seventh of the game, with just over four minutes remaining. But instead of finding the go-head tally, it was Tarzwell who sealed Mount Royal's fourth straight victory to start the season.



"We've got a lot to fix," added Butenschon, frustrated after his team's first four game losing streak to start a season in five years. "They scored two power play goals and two shorthanded goals. We just shoot ourselves in the foot, we're taking bad penalties. We don't have enough energy on the bench, we don't have enough team spirit right now. The things that have been our MO the last couple years are not there right now."

T-Birds captain Chris Douglas opened scoring late in the first by cleaning up the garbage in a crowded crease for his first of the season. A centring pass by Scott Atkinson deflected off a Cougars stick and with a handful of bodies around the blue paint, Douglas was able to get his stick on the puck and backhand it past Farkas.

Tim Gould scored the first of two MRU shorthanded goals, tying the game 1-1 midway through the second, finishing a breakaway with a backhander past Schwebius.

Mount Royal's strong special teams play continued with a Kyle Walker power play goal less than four minutes later at the 14:33 mark, giving the hosts their first lead of the game, 2-1.



But just 18 seconds later, the T-Birds got a good response when Alex Serraglio fired a one-timer from the top of the right circle past Farkas for his first Canada West goal, taking full advantage of a beautiful Mutala feed, setting up yet another eventful final period.

The 'Birds will lick their wounds and head back to Vancouver before an early start to the week that will see them head to Langley Wednesday night for the first half of a home-and-home with Trinity Western.

"We definitely could use some strong leadership right now and some guidance from the guys who have been through this. We've had (Ryan) Pouliot and (Jonathan) Smart and (Jake) Kryski in these moments over the years who have been great leaders and now some other guys have got to do the same thing. The responsibility is in everybody. We got more than enough skill and character in that room for everybody to pull the rope together."

Puck drop Wednesday night at the Langley Events Centre is set for 7:00 p.m. The second half of the home-and-home goes Friday, October 18 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Both games will be streamed live on Canada West TV.