Having come up one win short in each of the last two University Cup's played, the Alberta Golden Bears are in Charlottetown looking for a record 17th University Cup title.

The Bears have made the national final in each of their previous three trips to the U SPORTS Championship, beating St. FX in 2018 in Fredericton, before losing in the final to UNB in 2019 in Lethbridge, and to UQTR in the national final one year ago in Wolfville, NS. 

Their title quest in 2023 will begin on Friday afternoon, as they take on the #4 seed Windsor Lancers in the third quarter-final at 12:00 p.m. AT / 9:00 a.m. MT. 
 

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"Windsor has maybe the best goalie in the country. They play very stingy, and don't give you very much," said Bears head coach Ian Herbers. "They don't give up many odd-man chances, so we need to work hard at creating off the rush. The haven't had a lot of traffic in front of their nets in the games we have seen this year, so we need to make sure we have bodies in front, and make life hard for their goalie." 

In 43 previous tournament appearances, the Bears and Lancers have met just once before; a 6-3 Bears win during round robin play at the 1998 University Cup in Saskatoon. 

Both the Bears and Lancers head to PEI as their conference silver medalists. Alberta lost to Calgary in three games two weeks ago in the Canada West Final, while Windsor fell to UQTR 3-2 in triple-overtime in the OUA Final. 

"Our special teams will always be key, especially in short tournament like this. Our power play will have to keep clicking, and our penalty kill has been excellent in the post-season," continued Herbers. "And staying away from the major blunders. Teams will make mistakes during a tournament, but we need to keep those to a minimum, and play our good relentless game."

A win for Alberta would potentially set up a Canada West Final rematch, with the winner playing either Calgary or UPEI in the national semifinal on Saturday. 

SEEDING:
1. Calgary Dinos (CW champions: 25-3 regular season, 4-2 playoffs)
2. UQTR Patriotes (OUA champions: 21-5, 5-1)
3. UNB Reds (AUS champions: 24-6, 5-2)
4. Windsor Lancers (OUA finalists: 18-9, 4-2)
5. Alberta Golden Bears (CW finalists: 20-8, 3-3)
6. Concordia Stingers (OUA bronze medalists: 19-7, 4-2)
7. Saint Mary's Huskies (AUS finalists: 20-10, 4-3)
8. UPEI Panthers (hosts: 17-13, 1-2)

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (all times MOUNTAIN)
 
Thursday, March 16
9:00 a.m.: Quarter-Final #1 - No. 7 Saint Mary's vs No. 2 UQTR
4:00 p.m.: Quarter-Final #2 - No. 6 Concordia vs No. 3 UNB
 
Friday, March 17
9:00 a.m.: Quarter-Final #3 - No. 5 Alberta vs No. 4 Windsor
4:00 p.m.: Quarter-Final #4 - No. 8 UPEI vs No. 1 Calgary
 
Saturday, March 18
10:00 a.m.: Semifinal #1—Winner Quarter-final #1 vs. Winner Quarter-final #2
4:00 p.m.: Semifinal #2—Winner Quarter-final #3 vs. Winner Quarter-final #4
 
Sunday, March 19
10:00 a.m.: Bronze Medal
4:00 p.m.: Gold Medal