The Rundown - Week 6
The opening frame saw Mount Royal control the period for the most part, but that control was lost before the midway point as Sarah Dennehy found the back of the net on the power-play for her first goal of the season at 8:24, and the Bisons grabbed the 1-0 lead. Beyond that, the shots that Fargey turned aside did test her, but she was good on all challenges as we'd hit the break with that one-goal lead holding despite Mount Royal holding a 9-4 edge in shots.
We'd jump to the midway point of the second period where the next notable event happened. With Mount Royal on the power-play, Courtney Kollman ripped her sixth goal of the season past Fargey at 10:10 to even the score at 1-1. 90 seconds later, Ashley Keller introduced herself to the Mount Royal faithful when she found room past De Beauville off a feed from Halle Edwards for her fifth goal of the season, and the Bisons went back up by a goal! The Mount Royal power-play wouldn't waste an opportunity in this period, though, as Tianna Ko scored her sixth goal of the campaign at 18:57, and we'd go into the second intermission with the score tied at 2-2!
With a significant lead in shots-on-net, it felt like it may only be a matter of time before Mount Royal made one of them count, and that would happen at the 6:46 mark of the third period when Anna Purschke potted her second goal of the season to put Mount Royal up 3-2. That would literally be all the offence necessary for the Cougars on this night because they outshot the Bisons for a third-straight period despite Manitoba playing the last 1:41 with six attackers. When the final horn sounded, the Mount Royal Cougars had downed the Manitoba Bisons by that 3-2 count. Zoe De Beauville earned her sixth win of the season after stopping 12 shots while Erin Fargey took the loss on a night where she made 28 saves.
Highlights are... well, not here. Despite Mount Royal posting two new videos to their YouTube channel in the last two weeks, they posted no highlight packages nor did they put any replays of goals on their Twitter account. When someone offers free promotion of your athletes, you'd think they'd jump at the offer, but I guess "free" is simply not worth the effort.
SATURDAY: Mount Royal looked to extend their lead over the Bisons and the rest of the field with a sweep of the Bisons while the Bisons needed a win to keep pace with the Cougars. As shown in the game on Friday, these two teams are fairly even, but the Cougars did earn the vital two points. Saturday saw Kimmy Davidson sent to the blue paint for Manitoba while Zoe De Beauville was looking for her conference-leading seventh win in the Mount Royal net!
The goaltenders seemed quite satisfied in matching one another save for save throughout the first period. There weren't many shots for De Beauville to turn aside as Manitoba registered just two shots in the period, but Davidson was good on all nine she faced. Through one period, we were still locked at 0-0.
When the second period started, Davidson and De Beauville were back at it with their stingy ways as Davidson stopped all ten shots she faced while De Beauville turned aside the four shots she faced. However, like one night earlier, you were getting the sense that Mount Royal's ability to put pucks on net may pay off eventually as they led 19-6 in shots through two frames. No, that's not a typo.
And just as I alluded to, the Cougars would finally break through as Taylor Sawka found room past Davidson at 3:55 for her fourth of the season as Mount Royal went up 1-0. It looked like this game was over as the Cougars' defence absolutely smothered the Bisons all game, but Manitoba's third shot of the period and ninth shot of the game off the stick of Molly Kunnas was the equalizer the Bisons needed! Wait, is that a highlight? You're darn right it is, and I had to rip that from the Bisons women's hockey Twitter account to post it here! In any case, Molly's power-play marker was her second goal of the season and, with 14 seconds left, it would send this game to overtime as the Bisons earned themselves a point with the late-game heroics!
With Athena Hauck still sitting in the penalty box serving the second-half of a double-minor to start overtime, we'd get a game-winner early in the free-hockey period. And it was a woman who had spent a lot of time in Calgary prior to joining the Bisons who ended this one! Trechelle Bunn's first goal as a Manitoba Bisons defender is a memorable one as she ripped the puck over De Beauville's shoulder and under the bar for the power-play, overtime, game-winning goal! In short, that's a PPOTGWG - do they keep stats for that?
In any case, the Bisons escaped with the 2-1 overtime win over the Cougars! Kimmy Davidson earned her second win with a 33-save performance while Zoe De Beaville took the loss on a night where she only made eight saves.
Highlights of this game are... above? Sorry, Mount Royal fans, but your school simply refuses to show off the talent head coach Scott Rivett has assembled for you. Perhaps it's time to ask them to do more for your athletes?
The first period was inconclusive in terms of scoring as there were no pucks that made their way behind the two goalies. Alberta did have 3:12 of power-play time, but it was UBC outshooting the Pandas 7-5 through 20 minutes in a 0-0 stalemate.
I mentioned the power-play time above because one of those penalties carried over into the second period. Alberta didn't score on the power-play - they missed by two seconds - but they did break the stalemate when Madison Willan found Megan Wilson on a 2-on-1, and Wilson snapped a shot past Hugens for her first Canada West goal just 50 seconds into the period to give Alberta the lead! The defensive battle would resume after that until late in the period. Ireland Perrott got a couple of whacks at the puck as Oswald tried to cover it, but it would end up in the Alberta net for Perrott's third goal of the season at 15:32 which tied the game at 1-1! That score would hold into the second break as we looked for winner heading to the third period!
As an aside, individial highlights are better than nothing. Beggars can't be choosers, right? Let's just roll with this while teams are willing to make the available.
Late in the game, UBC was pressing and they had Alberta pinned in their zone when the puck found its way to the point where Ashton Thorpe hammered back towards the Alberta net. She wouldn't score, but the puck would pinball around a little until Ashley McFadden found it on the doorstep! McFadden's second of the season was a dagger with 1:08 to play, so you knew Alberta was going to play desperate hockey for 68 seconds. That threat would be eliminated, though, when Rylind MacKinnon iced the game with her fourth of the season as the UBC Thunderbirds claimed the 3-1 victory over the Alberta Pandas! Elise Hugens was solid in earning her fourth win of the season with a 15-stop night while Halle Oswald took the loss in a 22-save effort.
If you came looking for Alberta Pandas highlights to go along with the UBC highlights above, that's not happening. UBC posted videos of four swim meets over the last two weeks, but there are zero hockey highlights. I'm not here to rip on swimming, but how about a little equal coverage, UBC?
SATURDAY: After suffering their second regulation loss on the season, the Pandas needed a bounce-back game to get themselves back ahead of UBC in the standings. UBC, meanwhile, was looking to put some gap between themselves and Alberta with another win on Saturday. Kirsten Chamberlin was between the pipes for the Pandas while Elise Hugens earned her second start of the weekend after a great showing one night earlier!
If you're a Pandas fan, this is not the first period recap you want to see because it was pretty much all UBC for the first 20 minutes. Karine Sandilands scored her first Canada West goal in her career when she tore down the left wing, out-manoeuvred the Pandas defenders, and sniped a beauty past Chamberlin to make it 1-0 just 2:32 into this contest. The T-Birds would double that lead at 11:28 on the power-play. That was Joelle Fiala who appeared to whiff on the puck at the backdoor, but she got enough of it to send it past Chamberlin for her second of the season at 11:28! And Rylind MacKinnon would rub a little more salt in the wound as she scored with seven seconds left in the period as her blast from the blue line was good for her fifth tally this year. When all was said and done in the first period, UBC held a 3-0 lead, an 11-5 advantage in shots, and a serious chunk of offensive zone time.
The second period was more of the same as UBC continued to pressure Alberta all over the ice, but the goals were reduced somewhat. In fact, there was only a single goa scored in the period, and it came at 14:13. This is textbook "keep your stick on the ice" from Kenzie Robinson as she redirects the Shay-Lee McConnell feed to the crease past Chamberlin for her third goal of the season, and UBC was up 4-0 through 40 minutes of play.
's second The third period was all about clamping down defensively for the T-Birds, and they did just that as they limited Alberta's second chance opportunities on the three power-plays they surrendered to shutout the Pandas on this day as the T-Birds secured the 4-0 victory. Elise Hugens claimed her fifth win and conference-leading third shutout after stopping all 23 shots sent her way while Kirsten Chamberlin was tagged with the loss after stopping 24 shots.
Highlights are few and far between at UBC for their own team. You would think a shutout by your ace rookie in the net would be worthy of some sort of highlight package, right? What do the players need to do to get their athletics department to throw together a few clips of how well they played?
While both teams were looking for scoring, it should be noted that goaltending has yet to be a problem for either team. That was on full display in the opening period of this series as Durante and Wilson were showing off their best stuff in keeping these two teams off the scoreboard. With no goals scored, the only statistic to report is that Saskatchewan led 7-5 in shots after 20 minutes depsite having a four-minute advantage in the middle of the period.
The goaltending clinic continued in the second period as Durante and Wilson continued to maintain their clean scoresheets. The parade to the penalty box saw a few more names added to the list as the game was showed its physical side, but neither side could take advantage of the extra player on the ice. We'd head to the third period still locked in at 0-0, but with Calgary up 15-14 in shots.
The third period felt like a carbon copy of the previous two periods, but one miscue changed everything. Just before the midway point of the period, Saskatchewan was looking for a change when Emily Holmes dumped the puck in on Durante from center ice. Holmes' dump-in was put on net and I'm not sure if Durante lost sight of it or she simply misplayed it, but Holmes didn't have to skate far to celebrate with her teammates as her dump-in ended up in the Calgary net for her first Canada West goal at 7:54 as Saskatchewan grabbed the 1-0 lead!
The chess matched continued after that goal as the Dinos looked to press when possible as they needed the equalizer. However, another seemingly harmless play ended up costing the Dinos late in the game. Durante made the initial stop on the long shot from Bourassa, but the puck popped loose and Abby Shirley swept it by Durante for her first of the season at 17:11 to make it a 2-0 game for the Huskies. Just as they did for the previous 57:11, the Huskies locked down their zone for the remaining 2:49, and the final horn would sound on the 2-0 victory by the Huskies! Colby Wilson picked up her first Canada West win and her first Canada West shutout with a 22-save night while Gabriella Durante took the loss after making 23 stops.
Highlights? You already got them. For the record, Saskatchewan didn't load any up on their YouTube channel. Instead, I did after I ripped these videos from their Twitter feed. Not apologizing for that either.
SATURDAY: I've made it clear a few times on this blog that I will not celebrate blowouts. There is no need to make the team on the receiving end of that blowout go through it all over again, so this is your foreshadowing that Saturday's game didn't end well for one of the Huskies or Dinos. That being said, Calgary started Dayna Owen while Saksatchewan went with Camryn Drever.
In a scary moment just 31 seconds into this game, Calgary's Holly Reuther fell hard into the boards and required medical attention. She was stretchered off the ice by paramedics who safely made sure she was secure in the ambulance before hauling her to a local hospital. I can't imagine starting a game like this, and my thoughts go out to Holly, her teammates, her family, and her friends in this time. I truly hope she's not seriously hurt in any way, and she's back on the ice for the Dinos soon. Get well, Holly. This game is better with you in it.
After that scary moment, the game eventually resumed some 30 minutes later. Usually when something like that happens, a team either comes out with fire or sees them deflated in a big way. For Calgary, the latter was true as the Huskies went to work. Abby Shirley scored her second goal of the season on the power-play at 1:54. Kendra Zuchotzki added her first Canada West goal on a power-play at 4:10. After a Calgary time-out, it looked like things may settle down, but Sophie Lalor added her third goal at 8:44 to end Dayna Owen's night as Gabriella Durante replaced her in the Calgary net. The goalie change mattered little to the Huskies, though, as Abby Shirley scored again at 9:28 to make it a 4-0 lead. While Durante would settle in for the last half of the period, it was pretty clear that the Dinos had more important things like the health of Holly Reuther on their minds as the first period came to a close.
Just eight seconds into the second period, Bailee Bourassa made it 5-0 with her first goal of the season. Alli Borrow would get one back for the Dinos at 8:27, but the Huskies would go up by five once again when Kendra Zuchotzki scored her second of the game while on the power-play at 12:58. After 40 minutes, Saskatchewan held a 6-1 lead.
Sophie Lalor would add her second of the game on the power-play at 14:52 in the third period, and Kennedy Brown rounded out the scoring with her second of the season on the power-play with 25 seconds remaining as the Huskies trounced the Dinos by an 8-1 score. Camryn Drever earned her fourth win with a 25-save performance while Dayna Owen was the goalie of record in the loss as she stopped just one of the four shots she faced in the 8:44 she played. For statistical purposes, Gabriella Durante stopped 19 of 24 shots in 51:16 she played in relief of Owen.
Honestly, the result doesn't matter to me. I know Saskatchewan won and that matters for the bigger picture, but, right now, I'm just hoping that Holly Reuther's injury isn't serious, and her visit to the hospital was more precautionary than anything. I haven't heard any updates and I'm not going to seek them out as Holly deserves some privacy at this time, but there are things that are more important than hockey scores.
Here's hoping Holly is back on the ice soon because she's a helluva player for the Dinos. And just to make everyone feel a little better, here's an owlet being pet and looking like it's enjoying every second of the attention. Happy baby animals make me smile.
We didn't have to wait long for the ink to be spilled on the scoresheet in this game as Jordan Kulbida decided to get the party started! Kulbida's third of the season came just 1:12 into this game, and the Regina Cougars held the early 1-0 lead! Kliewer was solid in the opening frame in the Regina end of the ice as she kept the Spartans off the scoreboard as the Cougars took that one-goal lead into the break after leading 12-7 in shots.
The two teams resumed their back-and-forth play in the second period, but it would be Trinity Western who found the twine at 8:16 while on the power-play! Neisha Germann's top-shelf snipe was her second of the season, and it evened the game up at 1-1! And just as Kliewer did for Regina in the first period, Kate Fawcett was solid throughout the second period as she turned aside nine more Regina shots as this game moved to the third period tied 1-1 with Regina holding a 21-18 egde in shots.
The close-checking contest continued through the opening minutes of the third period until we neared the midway point of the period when the Cougars struck once again! Lauren Focht's first Canada West goal comes on the power-play at 9:39 to give Regina the 2-1 lead! From there, the Cougars played solid defensive hockey as they shut down the Spartans through the final ten minutes. Focht's goal would be the game-winner as the Regina Cougars downed the Trinity Western Spartans by a 2-1 count! Arden Kliewer made 22 saves to pick up her second win of the season while Kate Fawcett suffered the loss despite making 33 saves in this game.
Highlights are above. Regina hasn't uploaded anything to YouTube in four months. It's not hard to upload these video clips.
SATURDAY: While they're not mathematically-eliminated by any means, the Spartans needed a split to remain in the conversation for the final playoff spot in Canada West. Regina, meanwhile, looked to make things interesting in the standings with another win. Mable Maltais got the nod for Spartans in the back-half of the set while Katie Crowther was in between the pipes for the Cougars.
The Spartans stormed the gate in this game as they came out firing on all cylinders. Olivia Leier scored her first Canada West goal by cleaning up a goalmouth scramble as she fired the puck past Crowther at 8:42 to put the Spartans up 1-0. They'd double their lead and record a little history at the same time minutes later when Chloe Reid found herself on a shorthanded breakaway. The Cougars would track Reid down to disrupt her shot, but Jordyn Matthews followed up and she potted the rebound for her first Canada West goal and Trinity Western's first-ever shorthanded Canada West goal at 16:48! On that same power-play, though, the Cougars would get the goal back. Lauren Focht was left all alone at the side of the net where she chipped her second goal and second power-play goal over Maltais to cut Trinity Western's lead to 2-1 at 17:07, and that score would hold into the break with Regina holding a 12-6 advantage in shots.
Lauren Focht was having herself a weekend this weekend based on the number of highlights in which she appears! Focht's second of the game at 7:07 was her third goal and third power-play goal of the season, and it tied the game at 2-2! Trinity Western went back to work, though, as Olivia Leier scored her second goal of the game by cleaning up another rebound in front of Crowther to make it a 3-2 game for TWU, prompting Sarah Hodges to send Arden Kliewer out to replace Crowther in the Regina net. While things improved for a few minutes, the Spartans struck again before the end of the period as Kailey Ledoux scored her first Canada West goal when she finished off a wrap-around goal that started at her own blue line at 18:13, and the Spartans carried a two-goal lead into the third period for the first time in their short history!
The Cougars continued to throw pucks at the Spartans net, but Mabel Maltais was dialled in for this game. However, the Cougars would claw their way back into this game. Jordyn Blais' shot was stopped by Maltais, and Lilla Carpenter-Boesch jumped all over the rebound left out front by Maltais for her fourth goal of the campaign which cut the Spartans' lead to 4-3 at 12:07! The Spartans, though, locked down the defensive zone for the final eight minutes of the game as Regina couldn't find the equalizer, and the Trinity Western Spartans earned the 4-3 victory over the Regina Cougars! Mabel Maltais earned her first Canada West victory with a 30-save effort while, despite what the scoresheet says, Katie Crowther was the goalie of record in this game as she stopped five of eight shots she faced in 27:13 of work. However, Arden Kliewer was tagged with the loss despite stopping nine of ten shots in 31:31 of work.
We already know Regina's not doing highlights, but check out this awesome camera angle they posted on Twitter. That's the work of Arthur Ward who runs Arthur Images and is the official photographer of the Regina Cougars. Honestly, I need more of these angles in games. This is awesome - great work, Arthur!
| School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Royal | 6-1-1-2 | 16 | 35 | 15 | L1 | BYE |
| Manitoba | 5-3-2-0 | 14 | 28 | 23 | W1 | vs ALB |
| UBC | 6-2-0-0 | 12 | 32 | 9 | W2 | @ SAS |
| Saskatchewan | 5-1-0-2 | 12 | 19 | 9 | W3 | vs UBC |
| Alberta | 1-3-3-1 | 9 | 15 | 19 | L3 | @ MAN |
| Regina | 3-5-0-2 | 8 | 20 | 25 | L1 | @ CAL |
| MacEwan | 3-5-0-0 | 6 | 12 | 22 | W1 | @ TWU |
| Calgary | 3-7-0-0 | 6 | 22 | 38 | L4 | vs REG |
| Trinity Western | 1-6-1-0 | 4 | 8 | 31 | W1 | vs MAC |
The Last Word
I spoke of the importance of special teams last week during the conference bye, and we saw special teams play a huge role in wins this week. The only teams who are sitting below 10% in power-play efficiency are Calgary and Trinity Western. And to no one's surprise, they're sitting at the bottom of the conference. However, Trinity Western saw a shorthanded goal factor into a big win over Regina this past weekend, and I made mention how important shorthanded goals were to wins. Improve your special teams, and you'll win.I'm also going to point out that individual clips of goals are better than nothing when it comes to highlights, but, for the love of all that's good, it extends the length of this article by a country mile and creates a ton of extra work for me. Highlight packages are so much easier to post at the end of the recaps, take up far less room on these write-ups, and show highlights from BOTH teams at the same time. I apologize for making everyone scroll through all the individual highlights, but I'm committed to showing everyone how great these women are when it comes to doing amazing stuff on the ice.
If you want to that to change, I implore you to speak to your local teams to see if they can get their athletics departments to lend a hand. Otherwise, what you see above might be the unfortunate standard moving forward.
I'm not going to add anything else because of the length of this piece already, so we'll leave it at that for this week. I may circle to revisit the highlights once more, but at least they're sorta posted this week.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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