November 23 - The University of Regina Cougars jumped into fourth place in Canada West after edging the Manitoba Bisons by a 2-1 score on Friday night in a men’s hockey tilt at the Sherwood Arenas.

Regina (6-7-2) now has 14 points on the season, one up on Manitoba (6-6-1). The Cougars are actually tied for third place with UBC, but both the Bisons and the Thunderbirds have two games in hand on the Cougars.

Manitoba opened up the scoring on the power play late in the first period. Rick Wood took possession of the puck following a Cougar turnover and fed it to Chris Falloon, who danced around a sprawling Brant Hilton and roofed it, scoring his sixth goal of the season.

After the first intermission, the Cougars didn’t take too long to reply. With the Cougars on the man advantage, rookie defenceman Adam McPherson unleashed a slap shot from the right point that was saved by Manitoba goalie Krister Toews. The rebound popped out to Caine Pearpoint, who buried his third goal of the season to tie up the contest.

Manitoba had several chances to score in the second, outshooting the Cougars by a 13-5 margin in the middle session. Their best chance might have been a two-minute stretch midway through the period when Hilton lost his stick and had to use defenceman Brennan Chapman’s. Hilton scrambled to make several quality saves during the flurry.

In spite of the barrage of shots towards Hilton, the Cougars took the lead for good just before the end of the second. With Manitoba two men down, Regina’s Ryan Cruse took a pass from Shayne Emmons, moved into a slot, and wired a wrist shot that nicked the inside of the post behind Toews’ outstretched blocker before hitting the back of the net.

No goals were scored in the third, with the Cougars holding a 7-4 shot advantage. For the game, Manitoba had 25 shots to Regina’s 17.

Hilton (6-6) made 24 saves to earn the win for Regina. Toews (6-6) stopped 15 of the Cougars’ 17 shots in a losing effort.

The Cougars and the Bisons will meet again on Saturday night at the Sherwood Arenas. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

NOTES: The Cougars dressed only 17 skaters due to a rash of injuries and illness … all three of the game’s goals were scored on the power play.