CALGARY - The first place Dinos women's hockey team is set to take on their rivals from south Calgary when they take on the last place Mount Royal Cougars in a home and home series this weekend.

The Dinos had a rough start to their last series, losing to NAIT 2-1 before going to Edmonton for the rematch and beating the Ooks 8-1. Mount Royal's latest series saw them swept by the second place SAIT Trojans.

Mount Royal has struggled since the New Year, failing to find a single win in this half of the season. The Dinos, on the other hand, are continuing their strong push towards the playoffs by going 4-1 since the semester break.

The last time these two teams met was Jan. 10 where the Dinos walked all over the Cougars 7-0. The Cougars will be looking to avenge that loss and may have the skill to accomplish that given that they are one of three teams to hand the Dinos a loss this season.

Statistically the Dinos come into this game in a far superior position with a penalty kill that is second to none at 93.4 per cent and a powerplay ranked fourth in the league at 14.1 per cent. Mount Royal ranks last in the league in both penalty kill and powerplay at 81.8 and 7.6 per cent, respectively.

The continuing story for the Dinos success has been the offensive production by their rookies; the Dinos top five scorers this season are all first years including Elana Lovell, Shelby Davey, Tiara Schoenroth, Sinead Tracy, and Megan Frohaug.

The series begins at Mount Royal's Centennial Arena on Friday, Jan. 30 at 8:45 p.m. before heading north to the Olympic Oval on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.

-UC-