Fans didn't have to wait long to cheer for a goal as Calgary struck quickly. Rebecca Clarke took a pass just outside the blue line, skated into the high slot area, and let a wrist shot go that found the top corner glove-side on Shokar just 3:23 into this one as the Dinos jumped out to the early 1-0 lead! That seemed to wake up the Cougars as they pressed after surrendering the goal, but Roberts was solid in the opening frame. Two penalties through the latter half of the period slowed the Cougars' attack, but the horn would sound on a 1-0 Calgary lead through 20 minutes despite the Cougars outshooting the Dinos by a 6-4 count.
The second period saw Shokar and Roberts build their own highlight packages with some solid saves through the first half of the frame. Three minutes past the midpoint of the period, Sara Craven fed Elizabeth Lang down low as she cut towards the net off the left wing, and she outwaited Shokar as the netmindr sprawled to defend the net as Lang skated across the crease and deposited the puck inside the right post to make it 2-0 for the Dinos at 13:29! With less than two minutes, though, Nicolette Seper forced a turnover by Rachel Paul on the half-boards in her own zone that Breanne Trotter recovered and skated into the slot only to be surrounded by Dinos. The good news? Seper had broke back towards the net, Trotter fed her the puck, and her shot found a hole through Roberts to make it 2-1 at 18:17! That score would hold through to the break despite the Cougars outshooting the Dinos 16-8 at that point and despite the Dinos being assessed five minor penalties in the frame.
The third period saw both teams tighten up the defence while trying to find seams in the opposition defensive coverage, but it was a chess match through the first half of the period. Things opened up a little past the ten-minute mark as the Cougars began to press for the equalizer. A Breanne Trotter penalty would slow that momentum slightly before the Dinos brought it to a screeching halt. Brooke Dennett picked up the puck outside the Mount Royal blue line before going one-on-one with Laura Cook, and Dennett cut across the slot and fired a shot from the left hash marks that went over Shokar's right shoulder and under the bar for the power-play goal and the 3-1 Dinos lead! And 2:10 later, Dennett slid the puck from center ice down into the vacated net as Shokar had left for the extra attacker, and the Dinos would prevail by that 4-1 score over the Cougars! Kelsey Roberts picked up her 14th win of the season with a 20-save effort while Cassie Shokar took the loss after stopping nine shots.
Highlights of this game are below!
The two teams found scoring chances in the first period that saw the defences bend, but not break as both Roberts and Ross were solid in their respective creases. Calgary killed off an early power-play after MRU was given the first good opportunity, and they killed off a second penalty late to keep the Cougars from building momentum. Through one period, the 0-0 score remained intact with Mount Royal leading 8-5 in shots.
Early in the second period, a weak clearing attempt by Erin Armstrong ended up on the stick of Kate Hufnagel, and Hufnagel ripped a wrist shot past Roberts on the glove side from the left face-off dot to put Mount Royal up 1-0 just 2:40 into the period! This seemed to build confidence in the Cougars as they controlled the remaining 17 minutes of hockey on the frame, but Roberts wasn't surrendering another goal. Calgary had a couple of chances thanks to a late power-play on Ross, but they couldn't solve the Cougars netminder on their attempts. After 40 minutes, Mount Royal led 1-0 on the scoreboard and 22-11 in shots!
It was more of the same in the third period until a bad bounce ruined the shutout bid for Ross. Off a dump-in by Merissa Dawson, the puck hit the glass in the corner and caromed out in front of the net that Ross had vacated to play the puck after she assumed that it would follow the path of the boards. Instead, Sara Craven raced in and capitalized on the bad hop as she potted the puck into the empty net before Ross could recover, and the Dinos had tied the game at 1-1 at the 5:10 mark! That unfortunate break didn't seem to shake Ross' confidence as she continued to deny the Dinos through the remaining 15 minutes of hockey while Roberts was just as good in the Calgary end. At the end of regulation time, the game was still tied 1-1 with Mount Royal holding a 30-20 advantage in shots. We'd need some free hockey to settle this one!
The four-on-four overtime period solved nothing, so we'd move to the three-on-three overtime period where Breanne Trotter picked up a puck dug out of a puck battle along the boards by Tianna Ko, and Trotter would skate from the left-wing half-boards across the crease as Roberts slid across to try and stop her only to have Trotter slide the puck five-hole for the game-winning goal at 2:09 of overtime! Trotter's goal gave the Cougars the 2-1 overtime win over the Dinos! Kaitlyn Ross was good on 22 of 23 shots to earn her sixth win of the season while Roberts suffered the overtime loss despite making 33 saves on the night.
Highlights of this one are below!
Just as they always seem to do at home, the Pandas came out flying while testing Kish. However, the Cougars would be the first to strike when Jaycee Magwood picked Abby Benning's pocket as she came around the net, and went high glove-side on Chamberlin to put Regina up 1-0 just 4:58 into this game! That goal seemed to be the jolt that the Pandas needed as they turned up their play by a couple of notches at both ends of the ice, but they couldn't solve Kish in the first period. The Cougars wouldn't get many more chances like Magwood got, but the few shots they did have were stopped by Chamberlin. After 20 minutes, Regina held the 1-0 lead, but trailed in shots as Alberta posted a 10-3 margin.
The second period saw Regina get some better looks on Chamberlin, but she was just as good in making the saves. Alberta was efficient once again in ensuring that they controlled possession, and that would benefit them two minutes past the midpoint of the period. The long point shot from Taylor Anker was stopped by Kish, but Kennedy Ganser got a stick on the rebound and put the puck under the outstretched pad of Kish at 12:38 to tie the game at 1-1! 4:22 after that, a knuckler from the point off the stick of Brooklyn Tews would elude sticks out front and the blocker of Kish to find the top corner to give the Pandas their first lead of the game at 2-1 at the 17:00 mark! That score would hold into the break with Alberta holding a 19-9 advantage in shots.
Alberta controlled the final period thanks in large part to the three minor penalties that were assessed to Regina, but Kish looked good in keeping the Pandas off the board while up a skater. She couldn't stop them all in this period, though, as Tews broke down the left side and threw a puck towards the net that appeared to go off defender Shaelyn Vallotton's skate and past Kish at 13:38 as the Pandas skated to the 3-1 victory over the Cougars! Chamberlin was solid in earning her tenth win of the season in a 12-save performance while Kish took the loss despite stopping 28 shots on this night.
Highlights are below!
SATURDAY: In knowing Calgary's standing coming in and needing some help from Manitoba in holding off Saskatchewan, Alberta could make things very difficult for both of Calgary and Saskatchewan to catch the Pandas in the race for top seed and home-ice advantage throughout the Canada West playoffs with a victory against the Cougars today. While Calgary does hold the tie-breaker against Alberta, a six-point stretch over the Dinos would make any points against Manitoba next week a clinch situation for Alberta, so they were looking for the win. Regina, meanwhile, needed points to try and clinch a spot or needed some help from UBC to keep Lethbridge from potentially ruining their playoff hopes. In knowing all that, Jane Kish was back in net for Regina while Halle Oswald got the start for the Pandas.
The first period might have been the slowest I've seen the Pandas start on home ice in terms of finding scoring chances in some time as the Regina defence was excellent right from the drop of the puck. The Pandas, however, did manage to find a handful of good scoring chances on Kish, but she was equal to the task. Regina, at the other end, had a few good looks on Oswald, but the netminder wasn't allowing anything by. In a period that featured just 10 shots, zero penalties, and zero goals, we'd go to the second frame with the score tied at 0-0 and Regina holding a 6-4 edge in shots.
The second saw both teams ramp up the offence, but Regina would be stifled by a penalty at the eight-minute mark that gave Alberta the opportunity they needed to jump ahead. On the power-play, Cayle Dillon's point shot was stopped by Kish, Kennedy Ganser's rebound attempt was stopped by Kish, but the puck ended up in the air where baseball star Madison Willan bunted it out of the air into the net for the 1-0 Alberta lead at 10:07! The teams would alternate penalties after that power-play with two apiece for the remainder of the period, but no other goals were found as Alberta took the 1-0 lead into the second intermission while holding a 16-13 edge in shots!
The parade to the sin bin continued into this period as the teams combined for six minor penalties, four of which were assessed to Regina. That would be important because after Madison Willan got out of the box to provide Alberta with a short power-play with Jaycee Magwood sitting in the Regina sin bin, Willan assisted on a goal by Autumn MacDougall from the slot area that went past a mob of players and Kish for a goal that I don't believe Kish ever saw coming at 3:14 of the third period to make it 2-0 in Alberta's favour! The Pandas continued to use the power-play to prevent chances on their own net while eating up time as they tried to add to their lead, but the Regina penalty-killing units and Kish were good on the remaining power-plays awarded to Alberta. When the final horn blared, the Cougars couldn't muster any goals of their own as the Pandas skated to the 2-0 victory! Halle Oswald picked up her ninth win and fourth shutout with the 18-save blanking of Regina while Jane Kish absorbed the loss on a night where she made 21 saves.
Highlights - without audio? - are found below!
As it has been all season, a slow start to this game in terms of offensive zone pressure plagued Manitoba once more as chances were few and far between on Drever when they desperately needed to get the engine running early. At the other end, the Huskies had early chances on Fargey, but the Bisons netminder stood tall. A penalty midway through the period assessed to the Bisons was the catalyst for the game's opening goal as Isabelle Pozzi fed Emma Nutter with a pass at the edge of the right face-off circle, and her one-timer found a seam under Fargey and ended up in the back of the net for the power-play marker at 10:27 and the 1-0 Saskatchewan lead! The Huskies continued to press, but would find nothing else over the last ten minutes of the period as they'd go to the break up 1-0 and leading 10-3 in shots.
The second period saw the two teams come out and turn up the offensive pressure at both ends, but Fargey and Drever were just as good in their creases. A Saskatchewan penalty midway through the period gave Manitoba a number of chances, but the Saskatchewan penalty-killing units were good on this advantage as they stopped Manitoba from finding a goal. The horn would sound on two periods, and the Saskatchewan 1-0 lead held intact while the Huskies led in shots by a 18-12 count.
The third period in this chess match felt like more of the same from the second period as the teams traded chances back and forth. Late in the period, however, a centering pass by the Huskies missed its intended target, but Kennedy Brown had a step on Sarah Dennehy as she got to the puck first and wired it high on the blocker side to make it a 2-0 game for Saskatchewan with 2:58 to play. Fargey would head to the bench in a late effort to get the extra attacker on, but, moments after vacating the net, Jordyn Holmes found the back of the net with 1:51 to play after intercepting a cross-ice pass in the Bisons zone, giving the Huskies the 3-0 victory over the Bisons. Camryn Drever earned her fifth win and third shutout of the season after blanking the Bisons on all 22 shots she faced while Erin Fargey took the loss in a 25-save effort.
Highlights of this game are below!
SATURDAY: After the setback on Friday, the Bisons were literally in must-win territory while needing a pile of help to keep their playoff hopes alive. Saskatchewan, knowing the results of the Dinos-Cougars game on Friday, had a chance to jump back into second-place with a victory as they looked to extend their winning streak to eight games. Amanda Schubert was in net for the Bisons while Jessica Vance took to the crease for the Huskies.
The teams started this game a little more tentatively as neither seemed interested in giving up the first goal. That first goal, however, would come before the five-minute mark when Elizabeth Salyn took a pass that was slightly behind her with Megan Neduzak in tight coverage, and Elias managed to get the puck to a good shooting spot by pulling it forward, firing a shot through Neduzak's legs, and denting the twine behind Schubert at 4:58 for the 1-0 Huskies lead! Despite the early outburst by the Huskies, the remaining 15 minutes yielded a couple of power-plays for the Bisons that were unsuccessful as the Huskies took the 1-0 lead into the intermission with the teams tied 5-5 in shots.
The second period saw more chances for both sides, but only one made good on those opportunities. At the 5:08 mark, Rachel Lundberg would out-muscle Brielle Dacquay-Neveux in front of the net to chip the Isabelle Pozzi rebound past Schubert to up the Huskies' lead to 2-0! Kara Kondrat would make it a 3-0 game at 16:34 when she beat Schubert, and it seemed like there might be yet another shutout hung around the necks of the Bisons after they failed to score on two power-play opportunities in this period. At the end of two periods, Saskatchewan led 3-0 and held a 15-13 advantage in shots.
A four-minute penalty assessed to Lundberg in the second period carried over into the third period, and Manitoba finally figured out the Saskatchewan penalty-killing system as Katie Chartyrbok beat Vance at 1:42 to make it a 3-1 game! The Bisons were assessed their own four-minute double-minor penalty as Camille Enns was guilty of a check to the head, but the Bisons killed off that extended power-play. Using that momentum and confidence-building penalty kill, the Bisons would strike again as Jordy Zacharias set up Sheridan Oswald at 10:44 for a goal, and the Bisons were within one at 3-2!
Late in the period, the Bisons were pressing to find the equalizer when Schubert headed to the bench, but the extra attacker wouldn't be needed as Zacharias picked up a puck on the left-wing half-boards, took it to the middle, and got a backhander away that Vance stopped. The only problem? None of the Huskies picked up the rebound, allowing Zacharias to gain control and put the second backhanded attempt past Vance at 18:34 to tie the game at 3-3! With overtime looming, Zacharias wasn't about to let points slip through her or her teammates collective fingers as she won the ensuing face-off, poked the puck past Leah Bohlken to start a 2-on-1 with Kate Gregoire before sending the pcuk over to Gregoire who completed the most improbable comeback by sliding the puck through Vance's five-hole to make it 4-3 Bisons with 1:19 to play! Saskatchewan would press for an equalizer of their own, but Schubert and the Bisons held the fort as they escaped this game with a 4-3 victory when it appeared that their season was over! Amanda Schubert made 20 saves for her fourth win of the season while Jessica Vance saw a win stolen away from her after making 16 stops.
Highlights of this game are below!
The teams started slowly, but UBC built momentum as the period progressed as they found more paths to the net to get shots on Anderson only to be denied by the Lethbridge netminder. The first break in the game came when Lethbridge's Katelyn Breitkreuz broke down the left side and cut to the net with Madison Porter joining to make it a 2-on-1. Breitkreuz elected to keep and her shot was stopped up high by Micklash, but the puck came loose and Breitkreuz knocked it through Micklash at 14:53 to make it a 1-0 game for the visitors! Less than two minutes later, the Thunderbirds would pull even on a power-play when Rylind MacKinnon got some room at the top of the right face-off circle to get a shot away with all sorts of traffic in front that found the inside of the far post at 16:48, and we'd head to the intermission with the teams tied up at 1-1, but UBC leading in shots by a 10-4 count.
The second period saw Lethbridge's visits to the sin bin continue after three first-period minor penalties and two to start the second period. Once again, the power-play of UBC would capitalize with a Pronghorn watching from the penalty box as Mathea Fischer took a pass at the right of the net, and made a spin move as a fake while throwing a no-look, cross-crease pass to Hannah Clayton-Carroll who simply chipped it up and over the pad of Anderson at 6:05 to give UBC the 2-1 lead! The teams would trade power-plays later in the period with neither being successful, but the Thunderbirds continued their relentless attacks on the Pronghorns. The only problem was between the pipes as the T-Birds could not solve Anderson again in this period as they went to the break up 2-1 and leading 24-8 in shots.
The third period seemed to be the shutdown period for the Thunderbirds as they dialled back the offence in an effort to lock down the victory. With 1:01 to play, Anderson went to the bench, and the Pronghorns looked to find the equalizer with the extra attacker. Mila Verbicky picked up a loose puck in the UBC zone at the top of the right face-off circle, skated to the bottom of the circle, and threw a centering pass to Tallon Stephenson who got a stick on it, but was denied by Micklash. However, the round came directly to Kyra Greig who fired home a quick shot inside the left post to tie the game at 2-2 with 59 seconds remaining, and we'd need some extra time to decide this game!
The first overtime, while entertaining, provided no clear winner, so we'd hop to the three-on-three overtime where a penalty shot was awarded to Breitkreuz with 1:19 remaining! She made a couple of moves before deciding on a shot on the five-hole that Micklash stopped, so we'd continue on! 17 seconds later, Erin Johansen would feather a backhanded pass through to Kyra Greig who redirected it past Micklash for the game-winning goal as the Pronghorns kept their season alive with a 3-2 double-overtime victory over the Thunderbirds! Alicia Anderson picked up her ninth win of the season in a 30-save performance while Tory Micklash stopped 16 shots in the loss.
Highlights are below!
SATURDAY: Based on Friday's results, the script for both teams remained the same. Win and you're likely in if the tie-breakers go your way if you're cheering for UBC. Win and you keep the drive for the playoffs alive for one more week of hockey action if you're the Pronghorns. Just as they did on Friday, the Pronghorns started Alicia Anderson while the Thunderbirds opted for Tory Micklash once more.
This game started in favour of the visitors once again as the Pronghorns got in over the UBC line on the left side with Eva Debaie throwing a cross-ice pass to an open wing. Alli Borrow swooped in and fired a shot toward the net that bounced off a UBC defender in front and got by Micklash at 5:15 as Lethbridge used the lucky break to take the 1-0 lead! That goal seemed to wake the T-Birds up as they had a couple of chances on Anderson, but found nothing off those thanks to some strong play from the Lethbridge netminder. However, they would get to her on the power-play with five minutes left in the period. Anderson overplayed Hannah Koroll coming out from behind the net, and Koroll spotted Hannah Clayton-Carroll out front who one-timed Koroll's pass past Anderson at 15:08 to even the game at 1-1! The teams would retire to the dressing rooms at that score, but UBC held a slight edge in shots at 7-4.
The second period saw UBC continue their efforts in trying to earn a full three points, but they found themselves killing penalties early in the period and an unwilling goalie who shared their desire for goals in Anderson. Lethbridge, for their part, were unsuccessful on those early power-plays and spent the latter half of the period trying to defend the attacks by the Thunderbirds while looking for chances of their own. Neither goaltender would surrender a goal in this period as the 1-1 tie held firm, and we'd go to the third period with that score and the T-Birds leading 15-9 in shots.
The third period saw both teams tighten the screws defensively in order to not give up a goal, but Lethbridge would use a couple of power-plays to find some shooting lanes that Micklash was only too happy to deny. Late in the period, Mathea Fischer fired a shot on Anderson from the top of the left circle that Anderson stopped, but she kicked a bouncing puck into the slot area where Jadeon Cooke jumped on the loose puck and fired it blocker side past Anderson for the 2-1 UBC lead with 5:11 remaining! Lethbridge, needing a goal desperately to keep their season alive, pulled Anderson with 45 seconds remaining in the game, but the UBC defence would hold strong as the Thunderbirds claimed the 2-1 victory over the Pronghorns. Tory Micklash scored her ninth win of the season in a 13-save effort while Alicia Anderson suffered the loss on a day where she stopped 16 shots.
Highlights from this game are below!
| School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | 18-7-1-0 | 56 | 75 | 28 | W2 | @ MAN |
| Calgary | 15-7-1-3 | 50 | 49 | 37 | L1 | @ LET |
| Saskatchewan | 14-7-2-3 | 49 | 51 | 38 | L1 | @ REG |
| Regina | 9-13-4-0 | 35 | 44 | 50 | L3 | vs SAS |
| Mount Royal | 10-14-2-0 | 34 | 39 | 43 | W1 | @ UBC |
| British Columbia | 9-11-1-5 | 34 | 40 | 55 | W1 | vs MRU |
| Lethbridge | 7-14-2-3 | 28 | 46 | 69 | L1 | vs CAL |
| Manitoba | 7-16-2-1 | 26 | 31 | 57 | W1 | vs ALB |
The Last Word
Let's look at each team's situation individually here as we try to find the best finish for each team.
It should also be noted that the tie-breaker against Regina is still up in the air based on the number of wins MRU and Regina have after they split the season series 2-2. Regina has one more win in total (regulation and extra-time wins combined - tie-breaker rule #4) than Mount Royal, but Mount Royal currently has one more regulation win than Regina (tie-breaker rule #5). If Regina was to win one game in regulation (14 wins total and 10 regulation wins) while Mount Royal won both games in extra time (14 wins total and 10 regulation wins), the teams would be tied with 38 points and need to go to the sixth tie-breaker of goal differential head-to-head which Mount Royal would win 9-6. I'm not begging for an advanced math degree here, but let's hope this scenario isn't necessary.
With another regular season schedule about to close in Canada West, I'll still be tracking games throughout the playoffs and into the U SPORTS National Championship happening in Charlottetown, PEI. If I were a betting man, I'd say that we're looking at Alberta and Saskatchewan as the Canada West representatives at Nationals based on the season's results, but anything can happen in the playoffs. We'll see what happens this weekend and beyond as six teams jockey for playoff seeding and more!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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