Cougars topple Chippewas in morning matchup

The Assiniboine College Cougars wasted little time lighting the lamp, jumping out to 1-0 lead 25 seconds into the opening frame when Brooke Cyr’s shot found the net, a lead they would never relinquish, taking their second game of the national championship 10-2 over the Central Michigan Chippewas.

The Cougars once again saw a mix of scoring up and down their lineup, including two goals on the powerplay, with other tallies coming from Madison Haliuk, Montana Jubenville, Kasey Fouillard, Isabelle Gottselig, Veronica Smarz, as well as Abby Dixon and Victoria Mann who both notched a pair of tallies.

“I think we struggled a bit in the first period and then in the second and third we picked it up,” said Cougars forward Victoria Mann. “Our line got lots of looks and chances here today. I get a lot of joy scoring, but if I see a better chance for someone else I like to get it to my teammates. I love the girls around me, and our coaches. Knowing we can keep playing and putting in the work, motivates me to come here, look good and play good and work hard to win each day.”

For Cougars coach Charles Tweed, he liked the effort his team put in, and felt like yesterday’s game they got better as the game went on. “We had a lot of good chances in the first period but played a bit too much at the perimeter and didn’t have enough traffic in front of the net, so those chances generally were coming when their goaltender could see the puck.”

The intermission adjustments made by Tweed and assistant coach John Menzies were good for the Cougars as they came out in the second with sustained pressure that rewarded them again and again through the middle frame.The second frame also found a steady beat of the Smarz, Mann, Fouillard line.

“Our veterans were really good for us today,” said Tweed. “That line has two veterans who have played at this level for multiple years in the ACHA, and I feel in the second period they started to just take the game over. As they built momentum shift after shift, then the rest of the team kind of fell in line behind them.”

The third period, much like yesterday’s game, saw some feistiness on both sides, with five minor penalties being assessed to the Chippewas for a wide array of roughing and checking infractions, and a 5-minute major to the Cougars Brooke Cyr for boarding.

“You saw what the score was, but we still decided to call a time-out. I wanted to reinforce that if you get carried away right now, that your nationals dream can be over. If you take a silly penalty against a team that might not be moving on, then suddenly you're watching from the stands as well. So we needed to reset, make sure that they were protecting themselves on the ice, and not getting involved with anything that can cost you a suspension.”

For her part, Goaltender Clair Merckx was steady when she needed to be, turning away 18 shots in securing the win for the Cougars in her first start of the tournament.

The Cougars will face the Northern Michigan University Wildcats tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. CDT in the NHL arena at the Centenne Community Ice Centre. All the ACHA Women’s Division 2 action can be found on tournament broadcast partner flohockey.tv.