Box Score CALGARY –  The Cougars have finally got over the hump.

For the first time in program history, the Mount Royal University Cougars have punched their ticket to the Canada West men's hockey final with a 4-2 win over the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

After dropping game two by a 6-0 score, the Cougars had to reset and rejuvenate themselves if they wanted any chance of knocking off Alberta.

"One thing I found out of our group: we play pretty good when we're pissed off," said MRU head coach Bert Gilling.

"Yesterday we saw Alberta's best with them facing elimination and it was a good experience for us to see that. Now the challenge was for us, now that we were facing elimination," continued Gilling.

Mount Royal was forced to kill an early penalty but did a stellar job of blocking the Golden Bears' shot attempts.

Although the Cougars successfully killed off the powerplay, Alberta was awarded another one almost immediately after the first expired. This time, the Golden Bears converted.

Connor McClennon sent a cross-ice pass to Sean Tschigerl who one-timed a shot into the top right corner of the net. For the second game in a row, the Golden Bears had drawn first blood.

Later in the period, the Cougars got their first man advantage of the contest. After a few unsuccessful scoring chances, Mount Royal's second powerplay unit came through with a big goal.

Teague Patton scored his first career Canada West playoff goal, tying the game at one. The rookie forward curled around the top of the circle before firing a hard wrist shot through traffic, beating Alberta netminder Tyler Palmer.

Despite the goal, Palmer was the Golden Bears' best player all night and was especially stellar in the second period as the Cougars applied heavy offensive pressure.

With four minutes left in the second, Mount Royal captain Kyle Walker was assessed a holding minor. Alberta Brett Hyland scored just three seconds into the man advantage after MRU goalie Shane Farkas lost track of the puck. The go-ahead goal for the Golden Bears sucked the life out of the building.

With their backs against the wall, the Mount Royal second powerplay unit went to work again with under a minute in the period.

Walker's shot from the top of the circle was saved by Palmer but a juicy rebound kicked out to a wide-open Josh Tazwell, who fired it into an open cage. The Cougars were back in it once again.

Earlier in the game, Walker appeared to be badly hurt and was barely able to skate off under his own power after being crosschecked into the boards. The veteran blueliner proved that they don't come much tougher than him after he returned to the game and recorded an assist.

Entering the third, the FCA crowd held their collective breath, waiting for one side to take the lead.

Partway through the period, Mount Royal took their first lead of the game. Teague Patton continued his phenomenal game with a fantastic individual effort before dishing a pass to Justin Lies who tapped it past Palmer. Lies has scored a lot of big goals in his hockey career but this one may be at the top of the list. 

"It's right up there, no doubt. It was a big one," said Lies, recalling his goals from junior to university. 

Alberta did everything they could to tie the game but the Cougars denied any chance in the final few minutes.

Josh Tarzwell sealed the game three and series win with an empty net goal.

The Mount Royal Cougars had finally done what had eluded them for so long: make it to the Canada West finals.

"I feel a lot of gratitude in this moment," said Gilling after the game. "These guys played like studs today."

"It's only going to build now. I don't want this to be the high point but this was a big moment because it sets a new standard of what Cougar Hockey is."

The Cougars will face off against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in Saskatoon next weekend for the Canada West Championship starting with game one on Friday, March 7.