Cougars Storm Back to Beat Royals in Shootout
WHL Prince George Cougars

Cougars Storm Back to Beat Royals in Shootout

Published on December 6, 2025 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


VICTORIA, BC - After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the Prince George Cougars clawed their way back and earned a hard-fought two points with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Victoria Royals on Friday at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Brock Souch and Patrick Sopiarz supplied the regulation goals, while Terik Parascak and Jett Lajoie scored in the shootout. Goaltender Josh Ravensbergen collected his seventh straight win, turning aside 31 shots and stopping both attempts he faced in the shootout.

The Royals came out fast, outshooting the Cougars 15-4 in the opening period. Victoria opened the scoring at 2:51 when Reggie Newman slipped behind the defence and fired a shot past Ravensbergen to make it 1-0. The Royals doubled their lead late in the frame at 18:29, capitalizing on a Cougar turnover that led to Ashton Brown extending the advantage to 2-0.

The Cougars found their footing in the second period, generating pressure at even strength and on the power-play. At 8:29, Brock Souch cut the deficit in half with a perfectly placed shot for his eighth of the season. Prince George outshot Victoria 13-10 in the frame, but the Royals held a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes. Despite Victoria's pushback, the Cougars defended well and kept the game within reach.

Prince George continued to surge in the third. At 3:38, Jack Finnegan forced a turnover from goaltender Ethan Eskit and set up Patrick Sopiarz, who buried his second of the year into an open net to tie the game 2-2. After a tight, back-and-forth period, the teams remained deadlocked through regulation.

Overtime featured chances at both ends, including breakaways for Parascak and Lajoie, but neither could solve Eskit. The game went to a shootout, where both Lajoie and Parascak converted with blocker-side finishes on their second looks of the night. Ravensbergen shut the door on Victoria's Roan Woodward and Ludovic Perrault, securing a 3-2 shootout win and a successful start to the Cougars' weekend on Vancouver Island.

"Character win for sure for our group," said Carter Rigby. "It wasn't our normal starts for sure. They (Victoria) wanted to come out and give it to us especially after the last two games we played them at home. I thought in the end it was a character win for our group. We stuck with it. We regrouped after the first, we regrouped after the second, and then just got back to our game-plan and thankfully we also have Josh Ravesnbergen. He was great tonight all night and in the shootout."

The Cats conclude the road-trip on Sunday at 2:05 pm against the Victoria Royals.

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Western Hockey League Stories from December 6, 2025


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