Cougars' dream run reaches U Sports women's hockey final after upsetting Carabins

MONTREAL — The Mount Royal Cougars have upgraded their expectations at the U Sports women's hockey championship in Montreal.

The Cougars, seeded eighth entering the tournament, knocked off the Montreal Carabins 3-1 on Saturday to earn a berth in Sunday's championship final against the Concordia Stingers, who dumped the UBC Thunderbirds 3-1 in the evening semifinal.

Morgan Ramsay, Alex Spence and Kaia Borbandy (empty-netter) scored for the Cougars, who took a 1-0 lead into the third period.

Amelie Poire-Lehoux scored for the Carabins.

Cougars netminder Kaitlyn Ross stopped 22 of 23 shots in the victory. Aube Racine stopped 22 of 24 in the Carabins' net.

Mount Royal opened the tournament Thursday by upsetting the top-ranked Toronto Varity Blues 3-2. The Carabins opened the tourney with a 4-1 win over the fourth-ranked UNB Reds.

The Varsity Blues knocked off the UNB Reds 4-1 earlier on Saturday to earn a berth in Sunday morning's consolation final where they play the STFX X-Women, who knocked off the Nipissing Lakers 7-3 earlier on Saturday.

Rosalie Begin-Cyr scored twice in the Stingers' semifinal victory, while Emmy Fecteau netted a single.

Rylind Mackinnon scored the only goal for the Thunderbirds, who were outshot 23-19. The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period, and the Stingers led 2-1 heading into the third.

Montreal will play UBC in Sunday's third-place final.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2023.