The Rundown - Quarterfinals

Four teams entered the weekend as the playoffs opened in Canada West. Trinity Western was making the long trip to Winnipeg for a date with Manitoba while the Regina Cougars were heading west to meet the Mount Royal Cougars in an all-cats series. The winners of those series would move on to face UBC and Alberta, respectively, next weekend with berths in the Canada West Final and the U SPORTS National Championship on the line. Before any of that is decided, though, the field would need to be reduced to four teams. Let's find out who is moving on to the semifinals this week on The Rundown!

Friday's game would be the second time that Trinity Western would find themselves in the postseason. They held a 1-2 record in playoff games after defeating Mount Royal in Game Two of the 2023 series by a 2-1 overtime score, so the Spartans were looking to build on that record after finishing the season on a 6-3-1 stretch and coming off a sweep of the Mount Royal Cougars.

Manitoba hasn't won a playoff game since 2019 when they last went to the National Championship, but they were looking to build on a second-place finish in the East Division despite going 5-5-0 down the stretch. Having never met in the playoffs, history would be written between these teams as Kate Fawcett got the start for the Spartans while the Emily Shippam took the Bisons' crease for Game One!

The game seemed a little slow off the start as both teams looked to being playing cautiously after only meeting on one weekend this season. Perhaps both sides were looking to reacquint themselves with one another, but Manitoba built a little momentum after killing off an early penalty. There were some skirmishes as both sides weren't willing to concede an inch to one another, but it would be in the dying seconds where the scoring would open. Presleigh Giesbriecht's point shot was knocked down in front by traffic, but Chloe Reid found it and buried it with 4.1 seconds on the clock to send the Spartans to the room with the 1-0 lead despite Manitoba leading 9-6 in shots.

The second period opened with the same cautiousness, but that faded after the Spartans took an early penalty. The Bisons poured on the pressure, but could not find the twine. They'd continue pressing after the penalty, and it would pay off at the 7:37 mark when Hanna Bailey's shot was stopped, but Fawcett left a juicy rebound that Sadie Keller pounced on and put past the netminder to make it a 1-1 game! Despite another power-play later in the frame, the Bisons could not take the lead with the advantage. However, it seemed they came to life as the two teams went into the second break tied at 1-1 and with Manitoba holding a 22-16 edge in shots.

When tied going into the third period, Manitoba carried a 2-3-1 record while Trinity Western was 4-3-0. On the other hand, Manitoba was 14-4-1 when outshooting their opponent while Trinity Western was 5-10-1 in games where they were outshot. Which of those trends would hold true? Both teams looked to take the 1-0 series lead!

Both teams looked to attack where possible without giving up their defensive coverage, but a cross-checking penalty to the Bisons six minutes into the frame would prove costly. A point shot from Kelsey Ledoux found its way to Shippam who stopped the puck, but the rebound caromed to a wide-open Kyla McDonald who swept it into the open cage for the power-play goal and the 2-1 lead at 6:51!

The Bisons upped their pressure for the final thirteen minutes as they looked for equalizer and they had chances, but Kara Yackel would ice the game for the Spartans with five second remaining as the Trinity Western Spartans wins Game One by a 3-1 score over the Manitoba Bisons. Kate Fawcett made 36 stops for the win while Emily Shippam stopped 23 shots in the setback.

Trinity Western leads the series 1-0 over Manitoba.

Highlights of this game are below, and feel free to make them fullscreen because it seems like Manitoba's game staff was filming this game from the moon. Figure out how to use the zoom feature!

The home side found themselves in a predicament as they trailed in the series. After dropping a 3-1 decision on Friday, Manitoba was in win-or-done territory, and they needed to earn a win. The Trinity Western Spartans were looking to fly home earlier on Sunday with a second-straight win and second-straight weekend sweep of a second-place team, so they weren't looking to finish in second-place in this second game. Anyone want seconds on another batch of seconds? Ok, enough goofing around as Game Two between the Spartans and Bisons saw a rematch of last night's goalie matchup with Kate Fawcett back in the net for Trinity Western while Manitoba went back to Emily Shippam in this pivotal game.

There was no shortage of pucks-on-net for Manitoba in the opening period as they seemed determined to throw as many pucks as possible from all angles at the Spartans' net. The catch, however, is that Kate Fawcett was solid once more as she denied all of those shots. At the other end, Shippam was just as good in denying the Spartans on their handful of opportunities, and a penalty-less period meant a blank scorehseet was all we had after 20 minutes as the teams were tied at 0-0 despite Manitoba being up 20-7 in shots.

The second saw the defence step up as both sides continued their pushes, but also began limiting more chances. That was especially evident on the two power-plays that Trinity Western had compared to the one that Manitoba was given, but that's all the ink we'd get for 40 minutes of work. Both goalies were solid once more as no one could find twine, and two periods of hockey had us at a 0-0 game with Manitoba up 33-12 in shots. Would it be next goal wins?

The third period was played far more evenly, but Manitoba was called for an infraction early into the frame. They'd kill that off, and it seemed to give them a little jump. Trinity Western would be whistled midway through the period for delay of game, and the Bisons used this opportunity to its fullest. Norah Collins' shot off the left wing on a rush down the ice went high as Fawcett stopped it, but the rebound landed in the slot where Ashley Keller fired it home as the Bisons grabbed the 1-0 lead with the power-play goal at 10:49!

The Spartans pushed back over the next few minutes, and they'd finally be rewarded for their work when Kelsey Ledoux's point shot was tipped by a wide-open Kara Yackel in front past Shippam as her goal drew the Spartans even at 1-1 at the 16:45 mark! Both teams tried to end this game before the final horn with chances at either end, but the horn would sound on regulation time with the game still tied at 1-1, so it was off to the most-exciting time in hockey as overtime loomed with the Bisons holding a 43-20 shot margin.

With overtime in the playoffs getting the full five-on-five treatment, it would take a team effort for one of these sides to claim victory. Manitoba was 3-0-2 in extra time this season while Trinity Western was 3-1-1, so there wasn't much difference there. Being that there will be five players aside, it may not matter anyway, but Manitoba did win all three of their extra-time games without needing the shootout. Would that factor in? On to extra time!

The first twwenty minutes saw no goals and no penalties called as neither side could find the winner. As we know, Trinity Western could advance with a goal while Manitoba would force Game Three with a score, so both sides would be limiting chances while finding their own, right? That's not quite the story as the Bisons outshot the Spartans 11-3 in the frame as they looked to end it with pucks-on-net thoughts, but we'd move to double-overtime with no goals scored!

The second period of extra time saw Trinity Western and Manitoba engage in the "any shot can go in" mentality as pucks were sent towards the nets from everywhere. Breath was held for two minutes late in the period when Trinity Western was called for a slash, but they'd kill the penalty with no damage done. Despite Manitoba holding a 70-33 shot advantage over Trinity Western, this 1-1 game would need a third overtime period as the teams regrouped again!

On the third shot of triple-overtime, we'd finally see a celebration as Kylie Lesuk dug a puck out of the corner and threw it back towards the point where Camille Enns stepped into a blast at the top of the face-off circle and beat Kate Fawcett on Manitoba's 73rd shot of the game as the Bisons capture the 2-1 triple-overtime win over the Spartans! Emily Shippam stopped 32 shots in 104:12 for the six-period win while Kate Fawcett set a new Canada West record with 71 saves in this game despite the setback.

Manitoba and Trinity Western are tied 1-1 in this series.

Highlights of this game are below!

Sunday's game was simple: win or go home. Trinity Western's playoff history in Game Three games is simple as they're 0-1. Manitoba hasn't played a Game Three in the playoffs since 2018 when head coach Jordy Zacharias ended the quadruple-overtime thriller against Alberta with her goal, so there isn't a lot of recent history to recall. After the triple-overtime game on Saturday between Manitoba and Trinity Western, it will be interesting to see if either team has a lot of jump. The one thing that is certain is someone has to score more than the other to advance. In saying that, it's the third-straight game where TWU's Kate Fwcett and Manitoba's Emily Shippam stood 200-feet apart in the nets.

Of course, there was no highlight reel created by the time I was publishing this article - 11pm CT - so I can't show you the Game Three action. Instead, let's just head to the scoring summary and pretend that someone at Canada West was working on Sunday night.

Bisons goals: Ashley Keller (2), Brenna Nicol (1), Sadie Keller (2), Kylie Lesuk (1), Julia Bird (1)
Bisons assists: Julia Bird (1), Norah Collins (2), Camille Enns (2), Sophia Anderson (1), Aimee Patrick (1), Brenna Nicol (1)
Bisons netminder: Emily Shippam (20/22)

Spartans goals: Kyra McDonald (1), Kyra McDonald (2)
Spartans assists: Kasye Ditner (1)
Spartans netminders: Kate Fawcett (17/20) in 45:39; Olivia Davidson (5/6) in 13:36

Result: 5-2 victory for Manitoba over Trinity Western.

Manitoba wins the series 2-1 over Trinity Western.

The Regina Cougars made their way to Calgary for a showdown with the Mount Royal Cougars to determine which Cougars team would advance. Regina was making their first playoff appearance since 2022, but were looking for their first playoff win since 2016. Needless to say, none of the players on the current roster were around when that last win was recorded, and they enter this series on an oh-fer-10 run in postseason play. A 3-7-0 stretch run didn't look good, but it could all be erased with a win on Friday.

The Mount Royal Cougars are no strangers to playoff hockey, and they can book their third-straight semifinal berth with two wins over Regina. It starts with a win on Friday, and Mount Royal is 5-0 since 2019 in opening games of the quarterfinal round. If they wanted the streak to continue, they had to be ready for Regina. Arden Kliewer was in Regina's crease while Kaitlyn Ross stood between the pipes for Mount Royal to kick off Game One in this Canada West quarterfinal!

Mount Royal was in trouble early and often in the opening frame as they were down a player just 89 seconds into the game, and that trend continued throughout the next fifteen minutes. Luckily for them, Ross was looking as sharp as she ever has in keeping the Cougars at bay over four-straight power-play opportunities. Regina had chances to score, but they could not capitalize. At the other end, Mount Royal would get out of the first period with a lead when Jerzey Watteyne dropped a pass in the high slot to captain Lyndsey Janes, and she wired it home at 18:13 to put the home side up! At the break, Mount Royal led 1-0, but Regina had a 9-5 edge in shots.

The two sides settled down and played a little hockey in the middle frame. Regina was whistled for an infraction five minutes in, but they killed it off. The resulting pressure from that power-play, though, put Mount Royal on the offensive a lot in this frame, and they'd get another when Lyvia Butz centered a pass after corralling her own rebound, and Lyndsey Janes netted her second goal at the 15:05 mark to make it 2-0 for Mount Royal! The final 4:55 wouldn't see anything else added, so Mount Royal took that 2-0 lead into the intermission while holding a 23-12 shot margin after putting 18 shots on net.

Mount Royal was an impressive 15-0-1 when leading after two periods of play while Regina was 4-10-0 when trailing after two periods. Things were also in Mount Royal's favour when one considered that Mount Royal was 15-3-2 when outshooting their opponents while Regina was 5-8-1 when being outshot. Clearly, Regina needed a big effort in the third period if they were going to win this game.

The third period was all about the Alberta-based Cougars playing their game as they limited chances, they cleared pucks quickly from danger zones, and they supported Ross with blocked shots and by breaking up passes. Regina's two power-plays in the period would have helped immensely had they capitalized, but Mount Royal got out of those situations unscathed. When the final horn sounded, the Mount Royal Cougars claimed a 2-0 victory over the Regina Cougars! Kaitlyn Ross stopped all 20 shots she faced for the shutout while Arden Kliewer made 29 stops for Regina.

Mount Royal leads the series 1-0 over Regina.

Highlights for this game can be found below.

Mount Royal was one step closer to a semifinal berth with their win on Friday while Regina's unfortunate playoff streak continued. They'd need to find a way to capitalize on power-play opportunities if they were going to push this series to a third game, and we've seen in the past how big of an impact that scoring on the power-play in Canada West playoff games can make. Natalie Williamson got the nod for Regina in this game while Mount Royal went back to Kaitlyn Ross to try and close out this series.

Both teams were looking for the early strike, but it would be Regina who finds it. Off an offensive zone face-off win by Kaylee Dyer, the puck came back to Olivia Leggett who fired the puck through traffic and beat Ross who didn't see the puck as Regina took the 1-0 lead 2:07 into this game. The teams would continue to seek chances, but we'd get a response from Mount Royal on the power-play midway through the period. Jerzey Watteyne's shot found the top corner on Williamson's stick side, and her power-play goal at 10:08 tied this game up. Both squads would prevent any further damage, and the period would close with the teams tied 1-1 and 7-7 in shots.

The second period saw an uptick in the offensive push from both sides as each looked to take a lead, but it would take nearly nine minutes for that to happen. Syndey Benko shielded a puck from a defender well before finding Summer Fomradas as the trailer, and the defender made no mistake going between the wickets on Williamson to put Mount Royal up 2-1 at 8:45. Benko was at it again minutes later as she drove the net, but was forced behind it only to step out on the near side and feed Watteyne for her second goal of the game as Mount Royal went up 3-1 at the 14:07 mark.

On their very next shift, that combination clicked again as Benko found Watteyne wide-open in the middle of the slot on a rush, and she'd convert her own rebound after being stopped as Watteyne picks up the hat trick at 16:36 to make it a 4-1 game! Three goals in the middle frame from Mount Royal opened up a big gap between the teams as they went into the second break with a 4-1 lead while holding a 19-15 shot edge, and Regina had a lot of work to do in the third period if they wanted to keep their season going.

The third period saw Mount Royal shift into defensive mode as they knew they just had to limit chances to secure the win. Regina pushed for goals as they looked for opportunities, but any scoring chances were stopped by Ross and cleared by the Mount Royal defence. The 2023 National Champions looked strong in shutting down their Saskatchewan namesakes as the Mount Royal Cougars defeated the Regina Cougars by a 4-1 score to win the series. Kaitlyn Ross made 25 saves in helping her team advance while Natalie Williamson stopped 23 shots as Regina's season comes to a close.

Mount Royal wins the series 2-0 over Regina.

Highlights of this game are below!

Obviously, there are no standings for the playoffs, so we'll head over to the updated bracket for all your necessary information.

Alberta and Mount Royal already have a schedule set as the Cougars will play in Edmonton at 7pm MT for all three games (assuming the third one is necessary). There's no love lost here as Alberta eliminated Mount Royal in 2024 in three games while Mount Royal eliminated Alberta in 2023 in three games. Prior to that, Alberta swept Mount Royal in 2020 so the all-time series is in the Pandas' favour, but they'll add another chapter next weekend. It should be noted that the last two Canada West teams that captured National Championship banners defeated Alberta in three games in the semifinal, so that's a fun little bit of info to know for this series.

UBC is aiming for a fourth-straight Canada west banner, and they'll host the Manitoba Bisons. There are 7pm PT start for Games One and Two with Game Three scheduled for 3pm PT if necessary. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was 2019 where Manitoba swept the Thunderbirds, but recent history points to UBC's dominance over the Bisons with a 15-1-0 record in the last five years during the regular season. If Manitoba wants to exorcise those demons, taking down the top-ranked team in the nation in the playoffs would be a good way to do that. The only problem is that the Thunderbirds will have a say in that, and they are 11-2-0 at home this season.

Winners from both semifinal series will play in the Canada West Final, but, perhaps more importantly, both will qualify for the U SPORTS National Championship taking place in Elmira, Ontario. The games will be played at the Dan Snyder Arena which seats 1300 fans. Depedning on traffic, Elmira's about 30 minutes north of Kitchener, so any teams or fans who chose to stay in Kitchener will need some wheels to get to games. One step closer next weekend!

Honour Roll

Each week on The Rundown, I highlight the best performances from the weekend's games. It won't always be the top scorer or the best goalie, but I'll have a reason for who gets picked each week. This week's Honour Roll candidate had one of the busiest weekends in between the pipes in recent memory as she set a record despite her team's season ending. This week's honour roll candidate is Trinity Western Spartans netminder Kate Fawcett.

Fawcett has always played a big role in the success of the Spartans as their starting netminder, but this weekend saw her stand on her head as she faced more shots than both Kaitlyn Ross and Emily Shippam combined! Fawcett was spectacular in stopping 71 of 73 shots in the triple-overtime loss where she set a Canada West record for stops in a game, and I can understand if she was a bit fatigued in Game Three after that performance. It isn't often a goalie loses two of three games when stopping 95% of the shots she faces, so Kate Fawcett deserved a better fate after doing all she could this weekend.

She has one more season in Canada West hockey, and it appears that Kate Fawcett is positioning herself to be among the top stoppers next season. She was incredible in her perfomances this weekend, and she should help Trinity Western push for a better finish and another playoff spot next season. Making 124 saves over nearly 210 minutes of play is more saves than some goalies in Canada West make in two weeks, and that's how Kate Fawcett adds her name to the list!

Credit Where It's Due

I admit I've been harsh in my treatment of Canada West over the last couple of months, but they won back a little credit this weekend by not only providing all the highlight packages seen above, but they also fixed the media stats. I'm taking no credit for this since they probably would have got the message long before this past week had they been reading this blog, but the fact that I can dig into stats and history to give context to the stories above is the whole reason why I want these things on a regular basis. Makes sense, right?

If you earn the praise, you'll get it from me and Canada West certainly deserves a little this week as they made my job much easier with their efforts. If eight schools would chip in - Calgary, you keep up the good work! - there could be some very fun things I could accomplish. From where I sit, all it would take is Canada West issuing a mandate for highlights of every game. This is a good first step, though, so kudos to Canada West for coming through in a big way.

A Common Phrase, But...

I do read the recaps from the teams before settling in to write The Rundown, and one struck me from the weekend as missing the journalistic mark that the conference once set. I know there was an element to holding up standards as drawn up by The Canadian Press at one point, but I guess those fell to the wayside with athletics' departments cutting staff for cheaper solutions.

I was shocked that the Bisons had published the first Canada West game recap that I've ever read that contained expletives. I'm not faulting the author for capturing the comment that contained said choice words, but the general rule is to remove them and note the changed word. I'm thinking the author wasn't aiming to make history, but I've never seen that before in any Canada West recap.

If the Bisons are going to edit their article, they can also fix the spelling and grammatical errors seen within the article while fixing the formatting. If they don't, I guess that's how this creative communications student will be remembered because this article is now pinned to his social media account. Maybe help the kid out?

The Last Word

Congratulations to both the Mount Royal Cougars and the Manitoba Bisons as they keep their seasons going with wins this weekend. Regina and Trinity Western certainly put up a good fight in getting to the playoffs before falling, but the final four teams in Canada West are the top-four team in terms of points this season. The best teams in the conference will decide who goes to Nationals this season.

Yes, it sucks losing so I won't minimize the frustration and sadness of having a season end like both Regina and Trinity Western experienced. The only way to get past that is to take a few weeks to reflect, get set for the hard work needed over the summer, and getting to work. Both teams showed solid growth and potential this season, so next season is about taking that next step. No one likes losing the last game of any season, so use this experience to push higher next season. There's no reason why it can't happen.

For Mount Royal and Manitoba, they have one week to prepare for the top-two teams in the conference. Execution of systems will be very important, so practices should be uptempo and fast. Video will likely play a large part in preparing for the next series, so study your opponents, be ready to play on Friday, and try to grab the early series lead. Preparation is a large part of how teams win, so make it count this week! To be the best, one has to beat the best!

For UBC and Alberta, the bumps and bruises have hopefully healed, the legs should feel fresh thanks to the break, and the goal is simple: keep winning. You're going to face two battle-tested teams, but the advantages of playing at home should help. Everything is earned and nothing will be given, so enter next weekend expecting to find two teams not wanting nor willing to go home without a fight. If both teams play as well as they did during the regular season, things should turn up in their favours as the top teams in the conference.

The next series start on Friday, and they should be beauties! If you can get to either Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton or Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, you should because these are the four best teams in western Canada. Who will play for the Canada West banner and make plans for a trip to Ontario? We'll know at this time next weekend on another edition of The Rundown!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!