CALGARY – Coming off of an incredible last minute win in the Canada West quarter-final, the University of Calgary Dinos men's soccer team will look to keep their playoff run going when they take on their crosstown rivals the Mount Royal Cougars in the Canada West Final Four.

The third, and by far the biggest installment of the Crowchild Classic will take place in Vancouver at Thunderbird Stadium on Friday at 5 p.m. MT, with CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op providing the live streaming coverage.

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY 
Calgary has not been to the Canada West Final Four since 2016, and at that point, very few players from this roster were on the squad. Therefore, the Dinos will rely even more on their fourth and fifth year players who have that Final Four experience to lead on and off the pitch, as they look to earn the program's second Canada West title. 

HIGH STAKES RUBBER MATCH
The two Calgary squads will meet for the third time after splitting their two regular season matched. Mount Royal took the opening game of the regular season 5-0, while Calgary would get their revenge in the final game of the regular season with a 1-0 win of their own. The winner of this third matchup will get much more than three points, with a trip to the conference championship and nationals on the line. 

GETTING HOT AT THE RIGHT TIME
Goalkeeper Jake Ruschkowski has been brilliant for the Dinos all season, which led to him being named a Canada West first team all-star, but he has saved his best soccer of the season for the most important time of year. Ruschkowski has not given up a goal in over 180 minutes of game play, which includes 10 saves in last weekend's quarter-final.

SCORING BY COMMITTEE
With leading scorer Dominik Zuczek out with injury, the Dinos have relied on a number of different players to contribute offensively. In their last three games, the Dinos have scored four goals, and a different player has been responsible for each of those goals. Clearly the Dinos have a number of different players capable of providing offence, and they will need that to take down the Cougars. 

SCOUTING REPORT
vs. MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS
Match Info: Friday Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. MT – Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver, B.C.
2019 Record: 9-4-1, 1st in Prairie Division 
2019 Leading Scorer(s): Dane Domic (6g, 8a), Mohamed El Gandour (7g, 4a)

NOTES

• The Cougars come into the Canada West semifinal after a 2-1 win over Thompson Rivers University in the quarter-final
• Mount Royal had seven players recognized by Canada West this season, with two making the first all-star team, two making the second team, and three being named to the all-rookie team
• Leading scorer Dane Domic, who did not play in the last meeting between the two squads, will look to continue his fine play as he had one of the Cougars two goals last weekend
• Mount Royal had the best goals-against average in Canada West, giving up just 0.79 goals per game 
• The Cougars will have to see if they can conquer their road woes, as they were just 3-4 this season away from their home field

UP NEXT
Depending on the result of this match, the Dinos will either take on the winner of the UBC and Saskatchewan matchup in the Canada West Final, or take on the loser in the bronze medal matchup, all at Thunderbird Stadium. The two finalists will also head to Montreal next week for the U SPORTS championship.

-UC-