Justin McCaffrey, Mount Royal Sports Information
CALGARY – Mount Royal's Yousaf Nazari scored the game's lone goal in the 74th minute to lead the Cougars past the Huskies 1-0 Thursday evening at MRU Stadium Field.
The game started cautiously for both sides as most of the play was contained the middle of the field. Early in the contest, neither Mount Royal nor Saskatchewan could find their rhythm.
In the 30th minute Tyler Redl nearly opened the scoring for Saskatchewan. Redl snuck by the Cougars' defenders and got a touch on the ball. Cougars' keeper Kamil Zielinski made a quick reactionary save with his shoulder then lunged at the rebound, knocking the ball just wide.
Mount Royal pressed aggressively to start the second half, dominating possession. In the 57th minute, Justin Anderson-Louch took a ball at the top of the box and blasted it on goal but Greg Buckley, in the Saskatchewan goal, was there to knock it out of harm's way.
The Cougars finally broke through in the 74th minute when Yousaf Nazari corralled a pass from Cody Cook in the box. Nazari turned, sidestepped a defender and ripped the ball past the keeper.
Nazari's goal would hold up as the game winner as Kamil Zielinski posted his first shutout of the season.
Mount Royal improves their record to 3-1-0, while the Huskies remain winless at 0-2-0 on the season.
Mount Royal will enjoy nine days off until their next game in Winnipeg. The Cougars will play two against the Wesmen on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Saskatchewan will continue their tour of Alberta on Sept. 9 when they will travel to Edmonton to play MacEwan.