EDMONTON - Fifth-year MRU Cougars netminder Kaitlyn Ross stopped the Alberta Pandas' offence in their tracks Friday night, as she stopped 34 of 35 shots in a 2-1 shootout victory at Clare Drake Arena.

The U SPORTS 4-ranked Cougars (11-2-2, 2nd West) were outshot 35-21 in the game, but Ross was able to keep them in the game long enough to take advantage in the shootout. Their lone goal was scored by Kiana McNinch, a backhanded beauty that just beat Alberta's Grace Glover, who was also fantastic in the contest, stopping 19 of 20.

It was the Pandas' (11-3-1, 1st East) third overtime in their last six games, as they finally broke what was a six-game winning streak. Madison Willan potted home her fourth of the season for the Alberta goal, and interestingly, it was her 23rd point against MRU in her career at what is an above-a-point-per-game pace against the Cougars in her fifth season.

The Pandas carried the momentum from puck drop, dominating the first 10 minutes in the Cougars' zone, where Ross was stellar early on. However, Alberta broke through midway through the first period on the powerplay, as Willan went top shelf for her fourth goal of the season to give the Pandas a 1-0 lead. It marked just the fourth powerplay goal allowed by the Cougars, who lead the conference in penalty killing. Sydney Benko had the best opportunity for the visitors on a partial breakaway late in the frame, but Glover made one of her seven saves to preserve the 1-0 Pandas lead heading into the intermission.

After absorbing some early and heavy Alberta pressure, the Cougars were able to even the game up on a backhand snipe from McNinch, her first of the Canada West campaign. While the game went into the third with a 1-1 score, the Pandas continued to pour it on, outshooting the Cougars 10-4 in the frame.

The third was action-packed, with both goalies incredibly impressive, stopping high-danger shot after shot. Both sides also impressed on successive penalty kills, though Alberta's unit even generated some chances on the other end. With a powerplay and just three minutes remaining, the Pandas had three incredible chances in a row denied by Ross as the game headed to overtime.

Overtime was largely played in the Cougars' end, as a tripping minor gave Alberta several good chances that were parried aside by Ross. The vaunted MRU penalty kill came through in the end and sent this one to a shootout.

In the shootout, Alberta shot first and missed on both tries, while Aliya Jomha potted the second for the Cougars. A Jadynn Morden game-saving try was stopped by Ross, as the fifth-year tied a bow on what was a phenomenal performance.