A spirited MacEwan team came out and peppered Durante in the first period with 14 shots, but the Calgary netminder looked sharp on all chances as she kept the Griffins off the board. At the other end, Calgary's five shots kept Bender in the game, but she was certainly tested less than Durante. Neither would allow a goal, though, so we'd move to the second period tied at 0-0.
Calgary looked more aggressive in the second period as they began to get more pucks on net, and they'd be rewarded for that effort. Sage Desjardins would break the deadlock when she ripped a shot high blocker-side on Bender from the right hashmarks, and Calgary had the 1-0 lead at 9:02. Calgary would double their lead later in the period after a monster collision. Alli Borrow cut across the blueline and got caught in the trolley tracks as Amanda Murray caught her going east-west with what appeared to be a knee-on-knee collision. As Borrow laid on the ice, the puck came to Taylor Beck whose initial shot was stopped, but she followed up on the rebound, found the loose puck, and pushed it across the line at the 15:54 mark for the 2-0 Calgary lead. Borrow spent the rest of the period on the bench, but she and her teammates would head into the intermission with the two-goal lead.
The good news for Dinos fans was that Borrow returned to the bench for the third period and appeared to have shaken off the Murray hit. The Griffins would cut the lead to one goal five minutes into the third period when aforementioned Amanda Murray's wrist shot from the half-boards appeared to go off a defender in front of Durante, catching her by surprise as the red light as lit at the 5:00 mark to make it a 2-1 game on Murray's first career Canada West goal. Just past the halfway point of the period, Rebecca Clarke drove the Griffins' zone hard, cut around the net, and fed a pinching Kate Wagner who ripped a one-timer that hit Bender, but wasn't fully stopped as it found twine at 11:37 to restore the two-goal cushion for the Dinos on Wagner's first career Canada West marker! The Dinos would simply run out the clock on the Griffins for the remainder of the game as they claimed their first win of the season by a 3-1 score! Gabriella Durante picked up the win in a 28-save effort while Natalie Bender took the loss despite stopping 28 pucks as well.
Highlights of this game are below!
SATURDAY: After claiming their first win of the season to pull even with MacEwan in the standings, the Dinos looked to step ahead of the Griffins with a second win and move back to .500. The Griffins had their own dreams of moving to .500 and keeping the Dinos buried beneath them, so today's game had a big effect on the standings early in this Canada West season. Brianna Sank got the start for the Griffins while Gabriella Durante got her fourth-straight start of the season in the Dinos' net!
Calgary came out of the gates more aggressive than they did one night earlier, and they'd be rewarded for it with a goal. Some early pressure on the Griffins' goal resulted in nothing, but the puck came back to the point where Emily Hill teed it up from the middle of the ice and the puck found its way through the maze of humanity standing in front of Sank inside the blocker-side post to put Calgary up 1-0 at the 13:24 mark! Calgary would hold that one-goal lead into the intermission after leading 12-6 in shots in the opening frame.
The second period was back-and-forth as both teams looked for goals, but neither Sank nor Durante were particularly interested in helping the opposition with that idea. Calgary would finally break through late in the period. After Kallie O'Hearn rung a shot off the post for MacEwan, Holly Reuther took a pass at the blueline from Elizabeth Lang, stepped into the high slot area, and ripped a wrist shot past Sank on the stick side at 15:09 to make it a 2-0 game for the Dinos! That lead would carry into the break as the Dinos held a 22-20 edge in shots heading into the final frame.
The third period started the same as the second did with both teams looking for scores, but nothing took until midway through the period. On the power-play, Kyrelle Skoye's low wrist shot was deflected by Chantal Ricker in front past Durante at 11:26, and the Griffins were on the board at 2-1 with Ricker's power-play marker! Time would become the enemy of the Griffins, and they looked to push the play. However, a turnover at their blueline late in the game allowed Reuther to break in on the two-on-one with Lang. Reuther fed Lang, Lang went upstairs on the stick side on Sank, and Calgary's third goal at 18:52 sealed the deal as they captured their second win over the Griffins by the 3-1 score! Durante improved to 2-2-0 on the season with a 29-save performance while Sank suffered her first loss in Canada West after stopping 31 shots on this night.
Highlights of this game are below!
As you read last weekend, this blog isn't about celebrating blowouts. That foreshadowing will tell you all you need to know about Friday's game between the Spartans and Cougars. Courtney Kollman scored at 6:37 while Aliya Johma made it 2-0 at 17:09 for the Cougars through one period of play.
Mackenzie Butz made it 3-0 at 9:49 before Kollman added her second of the game at 12:37 for the 4-0 lead. Ryleigh White one-timed a loose puck from the top of the right face-off circle past De Beauville for her first career Canada West goal at 16:59, but the 4-1 lead for the Cougars carried into the break.
Breanne Trotter made it 5-1 on the power-play just 16 seconds into the final frame. Laura Cook scored another power-play goal at 4:12 before Emma Bergesen added the seventh Mount Royal goal 59 seconds later. 38 seconds after that, Taylor Sawka scored her first career Canada West goal to make it 8-1, and it was simply game management from there for the Cougars as they trounced the Spartans by that 8-1 score. Zoe De Beauville earned the win with a 15-save night while Mabel Maltais stopped 44 of 52 shots in the loss.
Highlights are supposed to be here, but it seems that Mount Royal isn't into the whole "highlights of games" thing this early in the season. I know they aired the games on Canada West TV, so where are the highlights? Get it together, MRU.
SATURDAY: Friday didn't go well for the Spartans, so there was hope that Saturday might see Trinity Western post a win or a point if they could push Mount Royal to extra time. The Cougars were looking for more regulation wins in order to keep pace with other teams ahead of them, so they had a purpose in this game. Kate Fawcett would try her luck in the crease in this game while Zoe De Beauville was back in the blue paint for Mount Royal.
Again, I'm not going to dive deep into this one as there's a clear disparity between the two score lines in the boxscore. Captain Tatum Amy got things rolling for the Cougars 3:34 into this game with her first of the season. Sydney Benko scored her first career Canada West goal at 14:49 which opened the floodgates for the Cougars. Tianna Ko added the third MRU goal of the period on the power-play at 16:15, and 1:05 after that marker saw Kaia Borbandy score her first Canada West goal. Mount Royal stood tall with a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Mount Royal had the upper hand all night on TWU, and they simply managed the game after putting four on the board in the first period. Taylor Sawka added a power-play goal late in the second period at 17:38 for the 5-0 lead, but the Cougars had this one under control with the five-goal advantage and outshooting the Spartans 30-11 through two periods of play.
The third period didn't see the Cougars let up in the shots-on-net department, but they were very disciplined in front of De Beauville as the final horn sounded on the 5-0 victory for Mount Royal on this night. Zoe De Beauville stopped 17 shots for her first shutout of the season while Kate Fawcett stopped 38 shots in the loss.
Highlights? You want highlights? Mount Royal doesn't do highlights, apparently. Give the people what they want, MRU. Get some highlight packages together. Pronto.
Saskatchewan went to work early in this one as Kate Ball gave the visitors the early lead when she sniped a wrist shot from just inside the right face-off circle that found its way through Crowther's wickets for the 1-0 Huskies lead just 5:46 into the game! The extra time off seems to have benefitted the Huskies as they were the more aggressive team in the first period, and they'd be rewarded for their drives to the net when Kara Kondrat's partial breakaway goal made it a two-goal lead at 17:32 to send the teams into the break with Saskatchewan up 2-0 in goals and 11-6 in shots.
Regina wasn't content with being held scoreless in the first period, and they came out far hungrier in the second period as they began to pepper Drever in the Saskatchewan end. They'd be rewarded when Lilla Carpenter-Boesch skated into the slot against some rather passive Saskatchewan defence and backhanded a shot on net that Drever stopped, but she couldn't deny Makenna Kushniruk on the left side of the crease as she shovelled the rebound into the net for her first career Canada West goal at 3:11. Again, Regina kept coming at the Huskies, outshooting Saskatchewan 17-6 in the frame, but Drever would only allow the single goal as we'd move to the third period with the Huskies leading 2-1.
An early interference penalty by Isabella Pozzi would send Regina to the power-play 44 seconds into the frame, and they'd capitalize. Jordan Kulbida's shot from the left half-boards was stopped by Drever, but Ireland Sorestad, flying in from the point, chipped the rebound past the netminder for the power-play goal as Sorestad tied the game 2-2 at the 1:52 mark! Regina continued to throw everything at the net as they attempted to find a winner, but Saskatchewan's Kennedy Brown drove the Regina net late in the game, and she found enough room for a goal as she jammed the puck home from the side of the net with 6:07 to play as the Huskies took the 3-2 lead. The Huskies would lock down the defensive zone for the final five minutes as Regina couldn't find the equalizer, and Saskatchewan claimed the 3-2 victory. Camryn Drever was solid in stopping 32 shots for the win while Katie Crowther made 19 stops in absorbing the loss.
It's fun to find out that schools seemingly have zero desire to market their athletes or programs by not posting highlight packages. Regina is one of those schools who hasn't posted a single highlight package to their YouTube channel since 2020, and have posted just one thing in the last 12 months. Get it together, Regina. Post highights. Any highlights. Something is... well, you get the idea.
Saskatchewan enjoyed the early lead last night, so they went off and did it again on Saturday as Jasper Desmarais scored her first career Canada West goal just 3:36 into the contest to put the Huskies up 1-0! Saskatchewan certainly was putting on a show in the first period as they sent 13 pucks at Kliewer in the opening frame, but Desmarais' shot was the only one to find twine. Saskatchewan went into the break up 1-0 and holding a 13-6 advantage in shots.
With Rachel O'Toole in the penalty box early in the second period, the Huskies' power-play went to work. Sophie Lalor's point shot found room through traffic and got past Kliewer at 3:14 to double the Saskatchewan lead, and Jordyn Holmes scored her first career Canada West goal at 9:16 to make it a 3-0 game in favour of the Huskies. The Cougars looked to cut into that lead when Lauren Focht was hauled down and awarded a penalty shot, but Drever was having none of that as she denied the Regina shooter with 41 seconds to play in the period, sending this one to the second break with the Huskies firmly in control with that 3-0 edge in goals and a whopping 25-11 advantage in shots.
Whatever happened during the intermission, the Cougars decided that they weren't content with the results of the first 40 minutes. A turnover at the Saskatchewan blueline off the opening face-off allowed Trinity Grove to skate in and get a backhander away that was kicked out by Drever, but the rebound found the stick of Jordan Kulbida and Kulbida found the back of the net just eight seconds into the frame to cut the lead to 3-1! 49 seconds later, a centering pass from Ireland Sorestad went up in the air over Drever, and Ireland Sorestad bunted it out of the air into the net to make it a 3-2 game! All of sudden, this game got very interesting very quickly!
However, the Huskies began their methodical play once more, grinding in the defensive zone and preventing good looks at Drever for the Cougars. Time became the concern for the Cougars as they hunted for the equalizer, and it was not to be on this night as the Huskies held on for the 3-2 victory over their provincial rivals! Camyrn Drever made 18 stops to secure her second win of the year while Arden Kliewer stopped 29 shots in the loss.
After having an entire extra week to prepare for making a highlight package, you'd think the Huskies would have used that time constructively, right? You're free to listen to the periods from this game over on the HuskieFan site, but a concise highlight package seems like a better use of your time. At least I think it would be, but I don't have the power to make that happen.
The first period saw these two teams, who hadn't played one another since January 18, 2020, reintroduce one another to each other. There were chances in the opening frame as UBC used the home-ice advantage to outsoot the Bisons 11-5 in the period as th aggressors, but, with no goals, we'd jump to the second period with the teams tied at 0-0.
Samantha Sichkaruk got the party rolling as she found the loose puck in front of the net off a bit of a goalmouth scramble, and put it behind Hiddleston just 45 seconds into the frame for the 1-0 Bisons lead! The Bisons would double their lead eight minutes later when Halle Edwards' shot from the wing bounced off a player in front and into the back of the UBC net at 8:47, and the Bisons held a 2-0 lead! The Bisons, though, would suffer thanks to their power-play once more as Kenzie Robinson beat two Bisons to a loose puck on the left-wing boards at center, skated by a third Bisons defender, took it to the backhand as she broke in alone, and beat Fargey on the glove side for the shorthanded marker with 23 seconds left in the frame. That goal cut the Bisons' lead to 2-1 as we moved to the third period.
The third period saw UBC notch the equalizer early as Kennesha Miswaggon's shot was stopped by Fargey, but the puck laid loose in the crease only to be swept home by Jenna Fletcher at 3:24 for the 2-2 tie! Everything got a little more tense until the Bisons were awarded a penalty shot at 7:17 as Halle Edwards used the free breakaway to go to the backhand and slide the puck under Hiddleston's left pad for the 3-2 lead! From there, the Bisons did everything they could to prevent the Thunderbirds from scoring again, and the horn would allow them to escape the night with the 3-2 victory over UBC! Erin Fargey recorded her second win with a 29-save performance while Reese Hiddleston suffered the loss in a 17-save effort.
This will now be Week #2 where UBC has decided that highlights are not their problem. Someone needs to speak with UBC about this because they skipped out on the Trinity Western game last week, and now there are none for Friday's game. I'm not sure what the problem is, UBC, but let's get the sports department rolling on producing a highlight reel just to see if they can at this point.
SATURDAY: After suffering their first loss one night earlier, it was expected that the UBC Thunderbirds were going to come out in this game and do whatever was necessary to win if past performances were any trend. Manitoba would need to play more aggressively with speed and shots-on-net if they wanted to make this weekend a four-point weekend. Erin Fargey earned her third-straight start for the Bisons while Elise Hugens was looking to avenge the loss for the T-Birds from the previous night.
To say that the T-Birds were the aggressive team in the first period might be underselling how good they looked combined with how flat Manitoba seemed. UBC would use that advantage to score early as Grace Elliott found herself all alone in the slot, and she wired home a shot at 5:39 for her first Canada West goal and the all-important 1-0 lead. UBC would double that lead when Kennesha Miswaggon popped home a rebound at 9:15, and they'd make it a three-goal lead as Joelle Fiala got a step on the Bisons defenders on the right, cut to the net, and slid the puck by Fargey on the power-play at 14:28 for her first Canada West goal. At the end of the period, UBC was up 3-0 and had a 19-4 advantage in shots.
The second period was still a bit of a feeding frenzy in the Manitoba zone, but the Bisons would use a power-play to cut into the lead. Camryn Gillis teed up a puck off a face-off win, and the Bisons were on the board at 3-1 at the 10:31 mark. However, Chanreet Bassi would make the Bisons pay for another rebound as she scored off a saved puck that wasn't covered at 13:19, and Sophie Gaskell would score her first Canada West goal 1:07 later when she fired a shot off both posts before it settled in the Manitoba net as UBC took a 5-1 lead into the break.
The third period saw UBC really control the game as they showed how dangerous they can be in locking down the 5-1 victory over the Bisons. Elise Hugens picked up the second win of her career with a 12-save night while Erin Fargey suffers her first loss despite stopping 30 shots in this game.
This is the third time in three games there are no highlight packages from UBC. It's starting to get ridiculous. I'm not sure what recourse Canada West has for this type of behaviour, but it's time to use whatever means they have to force UBC to do their jobs.
| School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Royal | 2-0-1-1 | 7 | 17 | 5 | W3 | @ CAL |
| UBC | 3-1-0-0 | 6 | 18 | 5 | W1 | @ MAC |
| Manitoba | 3-1-0-0 | 6 | 15 | 13 | L1 | @ SAS |
| Saskatchewan | 2-0-0-0 | 4 | 6 | 4 | W2 | vs MAN |
| Calgary | 2-2-0-0 | 4 | 12 | 13 | W2 | vs MRU |
| Alberta | 0-0-1-1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | L1 | @REG |
| MacEwan | 1-3-0-0 | 2 | 5 | 9 | L2 | vs UBC |
| Regina | 1-3-0-0 | 2 | 7 | 9 | L3 | vs ALB |
| Trinity Western | 0-4-0-0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | L4 | BYE |
Math Problems
If you are keeping track at home, the numbers above have changed somewhat in terms of the math. Canada West passed a rule this summer that women's hockey would go back to a two-point system for all games, meaning that regulation wins and extra-time wins are both now worth two points rather than three and two points, respectively. The standings above reflect that change.
Last week's standings had not been updated to reflect the new math because Canada West hadn't changed the math on their sites at that point, so you may look back at last week's standings in The Rundown and wonder what happened. That's the explanation - Canada West was a day late and a dollar short once again, but they finally got their standings in order.
For tie-breaking purposes, I will break up the extra-time wins because it's easier to read when trying to determine who is ahead of whom when it comes to the tie-breaker rules. With teams only playing each other twice in some cases, these tie-breakers may come in handy after the dust settles.
Special Programming
If you're a fan of the Manitoba Bisons, there will be a special broadcast next weekend as I'm making the road trip to Saskatoon! I'll set up shop in Merlis Belsher Arena and call the games for the Bisons on a special internet stream that can be found at this link and on the Bisons' website.I'm expecting a fun weekend as there will be a book signing at the rink and the Huskies are honouring some of their legends! The 2013-14 Canada West champion and CIS bronze medallist Huskies team will be honoured for their efforts in winning all those accolades, and Maureen Ulrich, mother of Huskies legend Robin Ulrich, will be on-hand to sign copies of her new book! The new book incorporates the Huskies into the story, so it's going to be awesome to see Maureen signing copies of her book about the Huskies at the Huskies game!
Of course, there are four points on the line between the undefeated Huskies and the Bisons, so I'll call all that action next week while having a blast out in Saskatoon. I hope you'll join me for the very first regular season road game called by a UMFM broadcaster!
The Last Word
With Trinity Western going into a bye week after being carved up by two of Canada West's most explosive offences, one has to wonder how they stop the bleeding. Twice in two weekends, they've given up eight goals in a game. Twice in two weekends, they've scored a single goal while being shutout in one of the two games. Twice in two weekends, they've shown some life before the floor falls out from under them.We knew it was going to be tough sledding for the Spartans based on how young their roster was this season, but I don't know if anyone was ready for the shellacking they're taking in games so far. It won't get any easier with Saskatchewan on other side of the bye week, and then the team moves into the conference bye. With two games over the next three weeks, there will be a lot of time for practice and video sessions which should hopefully sort things out a little.
It doesn't help that the Spartans are the most penalized team in the conference with a penalty-killing success rate of just 65.2% (8 PPGA on 23 shorthanded moments). They need to stay out of the box to give themselves a fighting chance to compete. They've only surrendered 16 goals in all other times, so reducing the penalties would be one thing I'd be looking to improve.
The other side of the coin is finding success on the power-play, and TWU hasn't seen any success there yet. They're oh-fer-12 with the extra player on the ice, and that kind of efficiency will sink a team pretty quickly. It's not going to solve all of their scoring woes, but converting with the advantage is going to take pressure off their five-on-five scoring.
There's hope that TWU can perhaps find their game in time for their weekend in Regina on November 19 and 20 as the Cougars are one of the teams that the Spartans will be competing with for the last playoff spot in Canada West. They have MacEwan the following weekend, and those two weekends of games could either help them immensely as they aim for a playoff spot or completely wipe out any hope of the playoffs altogether.
Whatever the case may be, Trinity Western needs to take advantage of the advantages they're given while preventing the opposition from gaining any advantage while the Spartans watch from the penalty box. Special teams matter in Canada West as much as goaltending and experience, and using the breaks one is given can really lift a team in this conference. If I'm Trinity Western, I'm working on special teams during this bye week because they have to find some positive on which they can build if they hope to take points off both Regina and MacEwan before the calendar flips to December.
No one wants to see Trinity Western get blown out every week, but no one will let up when they meet the Spartans either. Canada West is an ultra-competitive conference, so it'll be on the Spartans to find a way to compete throughout this season and beyond.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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