No. 8 seed Mount Royal tops Montreal to reach U Sports women’s hockey final against Concordia | CBC Sports

The Mount Royal Cougars have upgraded their expectations at the U Sports women’s hockey championship in Montreal.

The Cougars, seeded eighth entering the tournament, knocked off the Montreal Carabins 3-1 on Saturday to earn a berth in Sunday’s championship final against the defending champion Concordia Stingers, who dumped the UBC Thunderbirds 3-1 in the evening semifinal.

Morgan Ramsay, Alex Spence and Kaia Borbandy (empty-netter) scored for the Cougars, who took a 1-0 lead into the third period.

WATCH | Ramsay leads Cougars into final:

Ramsay’s winner sends Mount Royal to national championship final

Morgan Ramsay scored the semifinal winner for the Cougars as Mount Royal University defeated University of Montreal 3-1.

Amelie Poire-Lehoux scored for the Carabins.

Cougars netminder Kaitlyn Ross stopped 22 of 23 shots in the victory. Aube Racine stopped 22 of 24 in the Carabins’ net.

The Varsity Blues knocked off the UNB Reds 4-1 earlier on Saturday to earn a berth in Sunday morning’s consolation final where they play the StFX X-Women, who knocked off the Nipissing Lakers 7-3 earlier on Saturday.

Rosalie Begin-Cyr scored twice in the Stingers’ semifinal victory, while Emmy Fecteau netted a single.

WATCH | Begin-Cyr leads Stingers back to final:

Begin-Cyr’s 2nd period goal holds up as Stingers advance to national championship game

Rosalie Begin-Cyr’s goal in the second period proved to be the winner as Concordia defeated UBC 3-1 Saturday in Montreal.

Rylind Mackinnon scored the only goal for the Thunderbirds, who were outshot 23-19. The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period, and the Stingers led 2-1 heading into the third.

Montreal will play UBC in Sunday’s third-place final.