Calgary, AB – The Mount Royal Cougars clinched their first ever Canada West playoff berth on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Lethbridge Pronghorns 1-0. Emily Sands scored her third goal of the season early in the match and it stood up to be the game winner. Meghan Prudhomme was spectacular finishing the game with three game-saving stops.
Mount Royal opened the scoring in the 7th minute when Kristen Bloom lobbed a ball over the Pronghorns defenders. The ball landed right on the foot of Captain Emily Sands. Sands walked in alone and buried it in the bottom right corner to give Mount Royal a 1-0 lead.
The Cougars bent but didn't break in the latter minutes of the half as Lethbridge turned up the pressure. Meghan Prudhomme again looked sharp in the Cougars' goal, preserving the 1-0 lead heading into the half.
In the 50th minute Kelsey Kinzner deked around the goalkeeper and fed a ball into the box. Erin Holt, who scored twice last weekend at UBC Okanagan, slid and got a foot on the ball. At the last second the Pronghorns defender cleared the ball off the line to keep Lethbridge within a goal. In the 66th minute, the Cougars were awarded a free kick from just outside the box.
Amanda Schafer stepped up and rattled one off the crossbar. After a mad scramble, the Pronghorns were able to clear the line and stay in the game.
The Pronghorns looked to equalize in the 74th minute when Morag Paterson got the ball on her foot alone in the box. Paterson let off a bullet marked for the corner. Meghan Prudhomme shot out her left arm and made a miraculous save to preserve the lead.
Just minutes later Prudhomme made another acrobatic save from distance. The Pronghorns forward hammered a strike from inside the box and Prudhomme again kept the Cougars in the lead. With the victory the Cougars improve to 3-8-3 and clinch their first ever Canada West Playoff berth.
They will await the winners of tomorrow's matches to find out their first round opponent. Lethbridge falls to 2-8-3 on the season and need at least a point to solidify their playoff berth. They will head up to Edmonton tomorrow to finish up their regular season against MacEwan.