Sunday, 25 November 2018

The Rundown - Week 7

There was a potentially monster match-up in Canada West this week as #3 Manitoba hosted #9 Saskatchewan this week as both teams were looking to make up ground on conference-leading Alberta. UBC and Regina tangled as well, and that two-game set could cause some shuffling of the standings depending on results. Lethbridge and Mount Royal had a series this weekend as they each look to solidify a shot at the playoffs, and Calgary was facing Alberta as they needed wins against the second-ranked team in the nation to try and catch the Cougars and Pronghorns. With the storylines written, let's get into this week's action on The Rundown!

UBC at REGINA: Let's start in the Queen City as the Thunderbirds visited the Cougars. Before we get to the game, this writer wants to pass on condolences to former Cougar Kara McGeough whose father, former NHL referee Mick McGeough, passed away this week. My thoughts and best wishes are for her and her family as they go through this difficult time.

In game action, the first period was a case of one team showing as UBC controlled play through the opening frame. They had shots, they had chances, and they dominated the possession game, but Jane Kish stood tall in denying all 13 attempts sent her way. Tory Micklash was less busy as she made four saves, and we'd go to the second period with the game tied at 0-0.

The second period was where UBC decided to take control of this game. With Jaycee Magwood in the penalty box, UBC set up on the power-play as Logan Boyd found Emily Costales who moved from behind the net out front, and Costales made no mistake in redirecting Boyd's pass past Kish at 5:20 to make it 1-0 for the T-Birds!
51 seconds later, Brie Bellerive easily converted a Madison Patrick rebound past Kish to make it 2-0!
And 59 seconds after that with UBC back on the power-play, Kenzie Robinson deflected a Rylind MacKinnon shot past Kish to put the Thunderbirds up 3-0!

Outside of the three-goal siege that the T-Birds had, the period saw Regina get chances as well. None were successful, though, as UBC led through 40 minutes as they held a 22-12 edge in shots.

Regina came out more determined in the third period, creating chances and getting shots from in front of the net, but Tory Micklash was having none of that. She turned away another ten shots directed at her as Regina outshot UBC 10-5 in the period, but the 3-0 score would hold thanks to her netminding as the Thunderbirds took victory in this game! Tory Micklash picked up her sixth victory and third shutout of the season in stopping all 22 Regina shots while Kish suffered the loss despite making 24 saves.

UBC at REGINA: Saturday's game became even more important for Regina after they fell seven points behind UBC in the standings after Friday night's loss. UBC was again the more aggressive team in the opening frame in sending nine shots on Jane Kish, but it would be Regina who beat Tory Micklash with their five shots. Unfortunately, the shot that did get past Micklash off the stick of Waldenberger was turned away by the crossbar. These teams would enter the intermission still tied at 0-0.

The second period was far more physical, and it would come back to haunt Regina past the midway point in the period as Jordan Kulbida was sent off for boarding at 12:16. On the ensuing power-play, Logan Boyd fed Mathea Fischer in the face-off circle, and her high one-timer was deflected down past Kish in front of the net by Kenzie Robinson at 13:36 to give the T-Birds the 1-0 lead!
Despite each team having three power-plays and Regina leading 9-7 in shots in the second period, the Robinson goal would be the only one scored in the second period as the teams went to the third period with UBC leading 1-0.

On a wild play midway through the third period, a scramble in front of Kish appeared to end in a UBC goal, but the referee behind the net emphatically waved off the goal, keeping this a 1-0 game. That was good news for the Cougars who made up the difference shortly afterwards. On a power-play, Emma Waldenberger wrapped the puck around the net where a number of players were poking at the puck after Tory Micklash made the save. After a few seconds of this, the referee finally signaled a goal as Waldenberger was credited with the marker, and the Cougars had tied the game at 1-1 at 12:18! The final seven minutes would be played with no additional goals, so we would head to overtime with the teams deadlocked at 1-1 through 60 minutes!

Both teams had opportunities to end the game in the first overtime, but neither team would beat the opposition's goaltender. The second overtime would see UBC get all sorts of glorious chances as they hit a post and Kish made an amazing save on a two-on-oh one-timer, but it remained 1-1 as the T-Birds and Cougars went to the shootout!

In the skills competition, there were no goals scored in the first two rounds. Emma Hall came out for the Thunderbirds in Round Three, and she did this.
Holy dangles on that one, Batman! Hall put UBC up in the shootout with Jordan Kulbida needing to score to keep this game going. Kulbida broke in on Micklash and ripped a high shot that beat the goaltender, but could not beat the crossbar as the audible ping was heard throughout the rink! In the end, the T-Birds took this game by a 2-1 shootout score! Tory Micklash stopped 27 shots for her seventh victory while Jane Kish suffered her second loss of the weekend after making 30 saves.

LETHBRIDGE at MOUNT ROYAL: With two points separating these two clubs as they battle for sixth-place, this weekend's series was a big one for both the Pronghorns and Cougars. The home side got out to an early lead when Kate Scidmore curled out of the corner and found room inside the far post on Alicia Anderson at 5:23 to make it 1-0 for the Cougars! The remainder of the period would see chances traded, but the Cougars took that one-goal lead into the second period after outshooting Lethbridge 10-6 in the opening frame.

The second period saw Lethbridge lose one of their better players as Alli Borrow was whistled for a major penalty and a game misconduct for a bodycheck she threw on Morgan Ramsey at 11:34, but the Cougars could not make good on their extended power-play. The wide-open play was exciting for fans, but Zoe De Beauville stopped all 12 shots in this period while Anderson answered back by stopping at 15 shots she faced.

In the third period, the Cougars would double their lead. Off a scramble in front of the net, Kate Scidmore's shot as she was being taken down was kicked out through the slot by Anderson where it found the stick of Mackenzie Butz who wired a wrist shot past Anderson into the Lethbridge net at 7:45 for her first U SPORTS goal in her career! Lethbridge would use a late power-play to cut the lead to one goal when Mikaela Reay's shot deflected off Ashley McCabe in front to get past De Beauville at 16:05 to make it a 2-1 game. Lethbridge was given another power-play with 1:25 to play, but they could not find the back of the net again as Mount Royal escaped with the 2-1 victory! Zoe De Beauville picked up her fifth win of the season with a 22-save effort while Anderson was outstanding in the loss in stopping 33 shots.

Highlights of this game can be found below!

MOUNT ROYAL at LETHBRIDGE: The series moved to Lethbridge where the Pronghorns needed the win to erase the three points Mount Royal earned the night before. Zoe De Beauville took the crease for the Cougars while Alicia Anderson was back in net for the Pronghorns as the two netminders squared off for the second-straight night.

The first period saw the teams go up and down the ice with a number of chances, but neither goaltender would allow a shot to pass as Mount Royal held the slight edge in shots at 7-6. The second period was similar to the first period in that no goals were scored in this stanza, but the game was played incredibly wide open as defence was tossed aside. Mount Royal ended up outshooting Lethbridge 16-10 in the period to hold a 23-16 advantage as both goalies showed some incredible skill in keeping pucks from getting behind them.

Lethbridge brought everything they could to the game in the third period, pinning Mount Royal in their own zone for periods of time. However, it would be Megan Carver who zipped a shot over Alicia Anderson's blocker at 11:59 to put Mount Royal out in front. Lethbridge continued to press, and they drew a late penalty with 1:11 to play as they searched for the equalizer. Despite some furious pressure and several shots from in close, De Beauville turned them all aside in helping Mount Royal to the 1-0 victory! Zoe De Beauville picked up her sixth win and first shutout of the season in stopping all 29 shots she faced while Alicia Anderson suffered the loss on a night where she stopped 25 of 26 shots.

SASKATCHEWAN at MANITOBA: These two teams entered Friday night three points apart as they sat in second- and third-place, respectively. The second-place Bisons wanted to open up a gap on Saskatchewan while keeping pace with the Alberta Pandas, and Saskatchewan was looking to move into a tie in the standings with Manitoba while closing the gap on first-place Alberta. Needless to say, the jockeying for positions and possible first-round byes in the Canada West playoffs has already begun!

Saskatchewan came out of the gates with all sorts of speed and pressure on Manitoba in this one, using a solid transition game and some breakouts with speed to keep the Bisons on their heels. It would result in the game's first goal midway through the period as the Huskies moved the puck well before Isabelle Pozzi's shot was stopped by Taraschuk. Her rebound went to Shyan Elias who was also stopped by Taraschuk's left pad, but the Abby Shirley swooped in from the wing and swept the puck past the outstretched leg of Taraschuk to put the Huskies up 1-0 at 10:08! Despite Manitoba holding a lead in shots at 8-4, it was a period that the road team was very happy with as they went into the break with that one-goal lead and a significant lead in possession time.

The game got somewhat more physical in the second period as Manitoba found their skating legs and began to shift momentum. Saskatchewan was still holding possession more than Manitoba, but there were a number of chances at both ends of the ice. However, both Saskatchewan's Jessica Vance and Manitoba's Lauren Taraschuk were unwilling to partake in offensive outbursts as the teams went to the final frame with the Huskies still leading 1-0.

Emily Upgang started the period by heading to the penalty box for hooking just nine seconds in, and the Manitoba power-play came out to play. Natasha Kostenko's wraparound attempt was stopped by Vance which rebounded off a Saskatchewan defender in front only to be knocked down by Vance again where Lauryn Keen poked the puck through her five-hole to tie the score for Manitoba at the 1:00 mark! With the goal, Manitoba seemed revitalized as they began to assert their will on the game. Midway through the game, the Bisons caught Saskatchewan on a line change as Jenai Buchanan flipped the puck high down the ice where Karissa Kirkup picked it up behind the Huskies defenders, broke in on Vance, and went low on the blocker side at 11:47 for the go-ahead goal! Saskatchewan, sensing the pressure, upped their attack once more, but Taraschuk and the Manitoba defence would not allow another marker on several chances as Manitoba claimed the 2-1 victory! Lauren Taraschuk picked up her eighth win of the season in stopping 17 Saskatchewan shots while Jessica Vance suffered the loss in a 16-save effort.

Here's your obligatory Saskatchewan player gif of their goal-scorer tonight!

SASKATCHEWAN at MANITOBA: Saturday's game loomed even larger for Saskatchewan after Manitoba's come-from-behind win the night before. Jessica Vance was the goaltender of choice for the Huskies in this one while Lauren Taraschuk took to the blue paint across the ice from her. This game felt different from the start as Manitoba was skating hard early on. Saskatchewan responded by upping their pace, and this track meet was just getting started. The Bisons would break the goose eggs first when Brielle Dacquay-Neveux's shot was steered to the left corner by Vance, but Karissa Kirkup was there to grab the puck and her sharp-angle shot from along the goal line found the inside of the far post to put Manitoba up 1-0 at 6:52! Saskatchewan would find an equalizer later in the period just 11 seconds after Nastasha Kostenko was sent off for tripping. Kayla Kirwan's point shot on the power-play was deflected through the five-hole of Taraschuk by Emily Upgang for the power-play goal at 14:44 as these two teams were deadlocked at 1-1 through 20 minutes of play.

Both teams continued the frantic pace in the second period as rushes went up and down the ice. A turnover at the Saskatchewan blue line by Manitoba led to a three-on-two the other way as Shyan Elias and Abby Shirley broke down the ice with Kayla Kirwan racing up the right wing. The pass from Shirley went to Kirwan, and she fired low on Taraschuk's blocker side from the face-off dot inside the left post to put Sasakatchewan up 2-1 at 4:27! The action would continue up and down the ice as the teams searched for goals and used their speed to create room, but both Vance and Taraschuk would keep the teams from increasing their goal totals through the remaining 15 minutes of the middle frame as this game went to third period with the Huskies leading 2-1.

If good defence builds momentum, the Bisons used some key saves by Lauren Taraschuk to keep the Huskies from taking a bigger lead than they had early in the third period. I mention that because just before the midpoint of the period, Alex Anderson danced into the Huskies zone, used a six-player screen to disrupt Vance's vision, and pulled the puck across the slot area where she backhanded the puck past the recovering goaltender at 8:34 to tie the game at 2-2! The teams continued to play hockey at break-neck speeds through the remaining 11 minutes, but nothing would be solved by the time the horn sounded so it was off to overtime!

The four-on-four overtime period was played almost exclusively in the Bisons' zone, and they needed to scramble on a couple of good scoring chances by the Huskies. However, the Bisons held the fort through the first five minutes, so it was off to three-on-three overtime. It was in this period where the Huskies, using solid puck control and passing, pinned the Bisons' starting three in their zone for over two minutes. As the exhausted Bisons collapsed around Taraschuk, Abby Shirley's shot was stopped by Lauren Taraschuk, but Leah Bohlken poked the puck between Taraschuk's pads before she could smother it and the puck trickled across the goal line for the overtime winner as the Huskies claimed the 3-2 double-overtime win! Jessica Vance was solid in picking up her sixth win of the season by stopping 22 Manitoba shots while Lauren Taraschuk suffered the loss on a night where she stopped 25 shots.

Once more, Saskatchewan's game-winning goal-scorer with the gif!

ALBERTA at CALGARY: The first-place team in Canada West in the Alberta Pandas headed south down Highway 2 to Calgary where the last-place Dinos hosted them on Friday night. Calgary desperately needed to find wins of any sort to make up ground on Lethbridge while the Pandas were looking to pad their lead over Manitoba with a win against the Dinos. It would be the visitors who struck first after Annaliese Meier was sent off for tripping just 2:32 into the game. Abby Benning's shot was stopped by Calgary's Kelsey Roberts, but Hannah Olenyk showed some great hand-eye coordination in batting the puck out of the air into the back of the net for the power-play goal at 3:58 to put the Pandas up 1-0! The Pandas held the edge in puck possession and shots through the remainder of the period, outshooting the Dinos 10-4 in the frame, but the score would remain 1-0 through the first 20 minutes.

In the middle frame, Alberta would get into penalty trouble with Kalista Senger sent off for tripping at 7:17 and Kennedy Ganser would follow her at 7:36 for interference. The resulting five-on-three power-play would benefit the Dinos as Holly Reuther, in a scramble in front, converted a Brooke Dennett rebound past Dayna Owen for the power-play goal at 8:10 as the Dinos tied the game at 1-1!
While the Pandas still held the puck possession stats, the Dinos showed some life after that goal as they got their legs back and began to skate with a purpose. Both Owen and Roberts would stymie their opposition for the final 12 minutes of the period, so we'd head to the third with this gamer deadlocked at 1-1!

The Pandas came out gunning as they looked to close this game out with another goal, but Kelsey Roberts was the star of this show as she denied all 11 shots that the Pandas fired at her in the third period. That would be huge for the Dinos because Delaney Frey's shot - one of three the Dinos had in this period - was on-target.
Frey, who caught Cayle Dillon a little flat-footed, used her as a screen as she cut into the middle and roofed the puck past Dayna Owen at 14:06, and could we be seeing a major upset here? The Pandas roared back looking for an equalizer, but all they would find would be Kelsey Roberts and the Dino defenders who turned them aside time and time against in the final five minutes. As the horn sounded, the Dinos claimed a monster victory over the U SPORTS second-ranked Pandas as Calgary won 2-1! Kelsey Roberts was incredible in making 29 stops for her second win of the season and arguably the biggest of her career while Dayna Owen suffered the loss on a nine-save night.

ALBERTA at CALGARY: The second game of this all-Alberta series was schedule to take place in Edmonton on Saturday, but word got out on social media that this game would be postponed after a scary incident.
After the Humboldt tragedy, this was a little too close to home for me, so I'm glad that everyone involved is safe and sound. Postponing a game until everyone is mentally and physically ready to go is entirely understandable and acceptable, and if it takes until late February to play this game I'm ok with that. I don't know details of what happened nor do I want to know. The only thing that matters is that all the players and staff of the Pandas are safe. My thoughts and best wishes go out to all those affected by this, and I sincerely hope that the recovery efforts include the mental health of all involved. The recency of the Humboldt tragedy is still an open wound to many, so I'm hopeful that the players and staff involved are getting any and all the help they need in processing this accident.

Hearing that all are safe with no major injuries to report is always encouraging, though. My best to the Pandas in this time.

CWUAA WOMEN'S HOCKEY
School Record Points GF GA Streak Next
Manitoba
8-3-2-1
 29 40 20
L1
 @ CAL
Alberta
8-3-2-0*
 28 35 10
L1
 vs SAS
British Columbia
6-2-3-3
 27 32 20
W3
 @ LET
Saskatchewan
5-4-4-1
 24 23 19
W1
 @ ALB
Regina
5-6-1-2
 19 23 34
L2
 @ MRU
Mount Royal
6-7-0-1
 19 20 31
W2
 vs REG
Lethbridge
3-9-0-2
 11 15 33
L6
 vs UBC
Calgary
2-9-0-2*
 8 12 33
W1
 vs MAN
NOTE: * denotes one game in-hand due to postponed game.

The Last Word

With the final week of the first-half of the schedule being played out next weekend, it's interesting to see how the first-half of the season has unfolded. I don't think it's any surprise to see Alberta and Manitoba trading spots almost weekly when it comes to first-place in the conference, but UBC has been a bit of a surprise in third-place after they lost a number of key veteran players. Depending on what Manitoba does in Calgary and what Alberta does at home against Saskatchewan, there's a legitimate shot that UBC could be in one of the top-two spots in the conference if they continue to roll against Lethbridge.

In the last five years against Lethbridge in the southern Alberta city, UBC has a 4-1-1-0 record, but we can't forget that Lethbridge opened this season with 2-0 win over the Thunderbirds. By no means is Lethbridge an easy team to get by for the T-Birds or anyone else as Lethbridge is 1-4-1-1 this season in one-goal games. It will be interesting to see if the Pronghorns can recreate some more magic and pull off another win against UBC, but UBC has looked solid in recent weeks with a win over Manitoba and a five-point weekend in Regina.

Saskatchewan, for all of their speed and solid transition game, have been a surprise in that they're averaging less than two goals per game. They showed some great ability against Manitoba this past weekend with players like Abby Shirley, Shyan Elias, Brooklyn Haubrich, and Emily Upgang being thorns in the side of the Bisons, so I'm shocked that they haven't scored more. They'll be in tough against a stingy Pandas team this weekend, but Calgary proved that a full 60-minute effort against the Pandas with strong play in all three zones can result in success over Alberta. If Saskatchewan plays like they did against Manitoba, I think they'll be in line for a few points, if not more, against Alberta.

The Regina-Mount Royal series that will happen in Calgary could determine the fate of these two teams in terms of final standings. Tie-breakers are always a fun scenario, but the first criterion that is used to break ties is the total points earned against one another in the four-game regular-season series. Both teams have a regulation win and a regulation loss, so one team will have to earn four points at minimum to own the tie-breaker. In the event they split the weekend again, total wins (with overtime and shootout wins counted as full wins) head-to-head is the next criterion followed by only regulations wins head-to-head as the third tie-breaker criterion. If they split and go 2-2-0-0 each, the tie-breaker goes to most of total wins in league play including wins in overtime and shootout (hint: they both have six total wins right now). It's the fifth criterion - regulation wins only - where Mount Royal holds the edge as they have six to Regina's five, so Mount Royal would technically move into fifth-place if these two teams split this upcoming series down the middle again.

Of course, there's still a second-half of a season to play out and any number of things could happen to all of the above teams who are jockeying for position. If Lethbridge or Calgary gets hot and rattles off a few wins in regulation, they could affect all sorts of playoff scenarios including their own. With seven weeks to go, 14 games on the docket, and a potential 42 points available for all teams to grab, no one is out of the running for the playoffs just yet.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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