EDMONTON - Jonathan Walter's free kick in the 90th minute snuck through the Bears wall, and past fifth-year keeper Liam Collens into the Alberta net, sending the Mount Royal Cougars to the Canada West Final. 

Tied 0-0 through 89 minutes, a foul by Thomas Hope just outside the Bears box set up the Walter kick from 21 yards out, with his goal giving MRU a 1-0 semifinal win. Mount Royal will move on to the Canada West Final, where they will take on the UBC Thunderbirds in a rematch of the 2023 conference final. 

"I was just thinking about hitting the net. It was the 90th minute, you might get a rebound, tons of players in the box," said Walters. "I shot it bottom corner, and one of our players gave a bit of a screen, and the goalie wasn't expecting that." 

In an extremely tight battle between two rivals, neither team wanted to give up a mistake that would end their season. The teams combined for just 15 shots and nine shots on net, with both sides playing cautiously for 90 minutes. Mount Royal had the ball in possession more in the first half, with the script flipping in the second as Alberta took control. 

The first scoring chance on Sunday came in the 13th minute, as Collens kicked aside a sneaky shot from Walters. 

Alberta's first and best look of the opening half came in the 41st minute, but David Chung's shot from 25 yards sailed over the Mount Royal crossbar. 

Collens was forced to make another save in the 42nd minute, turning aside a look from Ethan Keen. 

Tied through 45 minutes, the weather took a turn for the worse in the second half, with wind and rain adding an element to the semifinal clash. MRU added a pair of scoring chances early, with Jackson Belbin forced to make a terrific sliding block in the 63rd, negating a Keen shot from in tight. Sjard Strauss made four saves in the Cougars net to earn the cleansheet, with three of those four saves coming in the second half. 

Tied late and the teams opening up more, Cougars pressure in the Alberta end forced the Hope foul, and the Walters free-kick. A low bullet, a flashing player in front of Collens distracted the second team Canada West All-Star, with the ball sailing into the bottom corner. 

"We have been an underdog all playoffs. We have been working hard, and we are buzzing," continued Walters. "Know we have a chance to bring two trophies back home." 

The 2024 Canada West Final will take place next weekend in Vancouver, with both UBC and MRU also advancing to the U SPORTS Championship in Oshawa, Ontario.