LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 7 ranked Mount Royal Cougars needed overtime to defeat the Trinity Western Spartans in Canada West women's hockey action Saturday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.  The Cougars Aliya Jomha (Edmonton) scored the game winner for MRU with 16.4 seconds remaining to improve the Cougars to 14-3-1. With the overtime loss the Spartans pick up a point and improve to 9-7-2 in Canada West.
 
TWU's Kate Fawcett (Tottenham, Ont.) made 22 saves in the overtime loss, while MRU's Kaitlyn Ross (Redcliff, Alta.)  made 15 saves to earn the win for the Cougars.
 
Scoring for the Spartans were Booklyn Anderson (Shellbrook, Sask.), McKenzie Mayo (Saskatoon, Sask.), and Chelsea Debusschere  (Lloydminster, Alta.). In addition to Jomha the Cougars had goals from Morgan Ramsay (Rivers, Man.), Kiana McNinch (Tutleford, Sask.), and Athena Hauck(Grande Prairie, Alta.).
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans opened the game with one of their best periods of the season. TWU outshot the top ranked MRU 7-4 and finished the first 20 minutes with a 2-0 lead. The Spartans Booklyn Anderson got her eighth goal off the season on the TWU power play. It didn't take long with the extra player as the Spartans Kailey Ledoux (Saskatoon, Sask.) won the face off back to Anderson whose quick wrist shot beat the Cougars Ross to put TWU up 1-0 at 17:21. TWU made it a two-goal lead less than a minute and a half later. TWU cycled the puck in the Cougars end and eventually found Spartan forward McKenzie Mayo.  Mayo slid the puck over the goal line for her third goal of the season and a 2-0 lead at 18:49 of the opening period.
 
Mount Royal responded in the second period outshooting Trinity Western 10-5, while scoring the lone goal of the period. The Cougars Morgan Ramsay got her second of the season when the MRU forward took advantage of a TWU turnover to go in alone on the Spartans Fawcett. Fawcett made the initial stop on Ramsay, but was unable to contain the rebound as Ramsay pushed the puck over the line, just before crashing into Fawcett.
 
The Cougars had four power plays in the third period and a subsequent 9-3 shot advantage.
Kaina McNinch got the Cougars even with the Spartans with her second of the season. McNinch found an open spot between the circles, where she put the puck over Fawcett's blocker to tie the game at 12:32 to tie the game at 2-2.
 
The Spartans quickly responded and less than a minute later had regained the lead. TWU's Chelsea Debusschere walked in from the blue line and one-timed a slap shot to the lower right corner to put TWU up 3-2 at 13:21.
 
MRU tied the game with the two player advantage with the Spartans were called for two penalties at 14:43. The Cougars made it 3-3 when Athena Hauck scored her fourth of the season when she went top shelf at 15:18.
 
Jomha got the game winner with 16.4 seconds left in overtime. Playing four on four, Jomha neatly deflected a point shot from Emma Bergesen (Stavanger, Norway) to give the Cougars the 4-3 win.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Jean LaForest
"I thought we played really-really well. Last night we weren't in sync and we didn't play our game. Tonight we talked about our hockey IQ being where it needed to be, and it was."
 
"The double minor ended up being the difference maker, and it is tough when that happens. But we earned a very valuable point and that can be the difference to making play-offs or not making play-offs as it is so tight. Tonight we were after two points, but we only got one. But we saw some really good things and I thought that was one of our best games ever."
 
On the opening semester
"It was a really good semester for us. We made some big strides and we showed that we can play with all the top teams. It is a great start, and we have 10 games left and play-offs are definitely where we are focusing our attention because that is where we want to be. And I think the girls have the capacity to make that happen."
 
NOTABLE
• The Spartans, who sit in fifth spot in CW, are now 0-8 lifetime against the Cougars.
• TWU finished 1-1 on the power-play, while MRU finished 2-6.
• The three stars were 1) Aliya Jomha - MRU, 2) Athena Hauck - MRU, 3) Chelsea Debusschere- TWU.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans are now off for the Christmas break. Next up for TWU will be the Saskatchewan Huskies in Saskatoon, Sask. On January 6 and January 7. Game time is set for 7 p.m. CT with both games streamed live on CanadaWest.TV.
 
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
 
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