U of R Sports Information

REGINA – The University of Regina men's hockey team fell by a 5-1 score to the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday night at The Co-operators Centre.

Austin Glover had two goals for the visitors, as the Thunderbirds battle with Mount Royal for Canada West playoff positioning. Tyler Sandhu chipped in with three assists, and Austin Vetterl, Chase Clayton and Colton Kehler also had goals as UBC improves to 13-12-2.

Cougar captain Tristan Frei answered for the home team, scoring his seventh of the season on the powerplay in the second period.

Rylan Toth picked up the win in goal, making 27 saves for his ninth victory of the campaign. Dawson MacAuley stopped 31 shots for the Cougars, who drop to 4-22-1.

Glover's first of the night opened the scoring 7:28 into the first period, as he was able to tuck one home after Sandhu fanned on a shot but ended up making a great pass across the crease. Jerret Smith also assisted on Glover's third of the season, which was the only goal of the first period as UBC outshot the Cougars 13-6.

Clayton doubled the lead early in the second period with his sixth of the season, and Glover added his second of the night just 20 seconds later with a rebound goal after MacAuley made a save on a Sandhu shot. Vetterl pushed the lead to 4-0 early in the third with a powerplay goal on a one-timer before the Cougars could get on the board.

Frei's goal came with the man advantage at the 13:48 mark of the third, beating Toth with a wrist shot to the glove side after taking a feed from Zak Zborosky. Any hope of a miraculous Cougar comeback was snuffed out just over two minutes later, as Kehler ripped a slapshot that beat MacAuley on the powerplay.

Regina and UBC will square off again on Saturday afternoon, with a critical matchup for the Thunderbirds, who will look to lock down a home playoff weekend with a win and some help from the Lethbridge Pronghorns. Game time is set for 3 p.m. at The Co-operators Centre.