CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos women's hockey team bounced back from a disastrous first period to win the first game of the ACAC championship series 4-3 against the Mount Royal College Cougars.
The Dinos take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five championship final, with Game 2 scheduled for Sunday, March 8 at Centennial Arena, with puck drop at 7:45 p.m.
The Dinos have gone undefeated so far in the playoffs after sweeping the MacEwan College Griffins in the semi-finals. Mount Royal, on the other hand, has had to fight through both the Red Deer College Queens and then the first ranked SAIT Trojans in 2-0 and 2-1 series respectively, a feat made all the more impressive given Mount Royal's last place position after the regular season.
The game came off to a good start for the Dinos who dominated the first five minutes before Mount Royal sprang to life, scoring goals at 14:03 and 15:26. The first goal came when the Cougars Chelsey Morrill forced her way past the lone Dino defender on the blue line and scored a goal through the five-hole. The second goal came when Cougar forward Emma Lowry succeeded on a wraparound attempt that found the back of the net. The Dinos couldn't get anything going throughout the first, squandering a five-on-three advantage at the end of the period in addition to their five-on-five scoring woes.
Dinos goaltender Katie Urness faced 12 shots in that first period and commented on the Dinos struggles through the first.
“We came out good in the first five but we knew we could play better," she said. "We just had to regroup and bring it all together.”
The Dinos rallied after that disastrous first period on the back of their veterans with Cait O'Hara opening the scoring at 3:47. O'Hara was fed the puck at centre ice and proceeded to streak between the Mount Royal defenders and finish on her breakaway.
“I just wanted to get some speed and beat the D," O'Hara said. "Then, I tried to pick a spot and make sure that puck went in the net.”
Eight minutes later, Erin Davidson tied the game with sequence very similar to the first Dinos goal when she got a breakaway and finished the play, going five-hole on Cougar goalie Sarah Oswald.
The third period began with a big setback in the form of penalties at 4:50 and 9:50 to Dinos players, with the second setting up the Cougars go-ahead goal. Brianna Bird began the play with a point shot that bounced out in front of Urness. Before the 'keeper could cover the puck, Morrill chipped the puck into the net for her second of the night.
“We were down at the beginning “ Urness stated. ”It showed the depth of our team that we didn't give up, even in the third period going down a goal.”
The Mount Royal lead wouldn't last thanks to Sinead Tracy, who bashed a puck in from a scrum in front of the Cougar net at 13:24 to tie the game. Ali Webb and Shannon Davidson picked up assists on the marker.
The game winner came at 15:05 when the Dinos rookie line, who had been shut down by Mount Royal all game, finally produced. Elana Lovell notched the game winner after being fed the puck by #Tiara Schoenroth. Lovell beat the lone defender to give herself a breakaway and made no mistakes, sinking the puck top-shelf over Oswald's blocker.
“It's a good experience for the younger girls in their first year to come into this and feel what it's like to be in the finals,” commented O'Hara following the win.
The game would end 4-3 with neither Urness nor Oswald letting in another goal; Urness successfully turned away 24 of 27 shots while Oswald was successful on 26 of 30 attempts.
The Dinos will try to take a 2-0 lead on Sunday night. That match is a home game for Mount Royal and faces off at 7:45 p.m. at Centennial Arena. Following that, the third through fifth games will be played next weekend beginning with a game at the Olympic Oval on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.
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