CALGARY – Thirty-seven seconds into the game, it was all Calgary Dinos; after 60 minutes, it was all Alberta Golden Bears, who took home the victory by a score of 4-2. With the win, Alberta improves to a conference-best 13-2-1, while the Dinos drop to 6-11-1 on the year.
BOX SCORE
After being stuck in a scoring slump to end the fall semester, Reid Jorgensen, who potted a goal in last night's loss to the Bears in Edmonton, took no time at all finding the back of the net in Calgary. Squeaking one through the legs of Golden Bear goaltender Aaron Sorochan 37 seconds in, it was Jorgensen's sixth goal of the season, and seemingly a good sign of things to come for the Dinos in the rare Sunday night affair.
Third year forward Kyle Annesley found the right hand side of Sorochan's net shortly after Jorgensen's goal, and Dan Ehrman almost had the Dinos' third goal of the period before it was waived off due to a prior penalty. The Dinos posted 11 shots in the first frame, and took a 2-0 lead into the locker room.
The only slight sign of life the Bears showed in the first period came courtesy of a penalty shot from rookie centre Greg Gardner, who was tripped up on a breakaway. Gardner however could not put the free shot behind Calgary goaltender Jeff Weber, who entertained the home crowd with a great save with the left pad.
Whatever Alberta head coach Eric Thurston said in the locker room during the first intermission got through to his players, as the Dinos received a large dose of Golden Bear pressure the rest of the way throughout the match. After having only marked eight shots in the first stanza, Alberta poured it on with 30 more shots over the next two periods, compared to only 13 from Calgary.
Derek Ryan and Chad Klassen led the charge for the Bears, each marking a goal and an assist in the second period, with Ryan also finding an empty net late in the game. Ryan, a former Spokane Chief, picked up first star honours for his efforts, while Klassen, also a former Chief, picked up the second star with the strong six shot, two point performance
Alberta forward Kyle Pess rounded out the scoring for the visitors with the eventual game winner late in the third period.
Jeff Weber, who is credited with the loss, once again did admirably in net for the Dinos when considering the onslaught of shots faced in the latter two periods. Weber, who only let in three of Alberta's four goals, made 33 saves on the night, and was the lone bright spot for the Dinos after the first intermission.
The Alberta Golden Bears will look to continue their winning ways next weekend where they will face the UBC Thunderbirds, who are coming off of their bye to open up the winter semester.
For head coach Scott Atkinson and the Dinos, it is back to the drawing board yet again, and they will get extra time to do so as they get their bye next weekend. Calgary returns to the ice on January 24th in Regina to face the Cougars for a weekend set before returning home for the weekend of January 30th, where they will host the Saskatchewan Huskies.
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