CALGARY – With very similar situations concerning their postseason chances, the University of Calgary Dinos head into their final home weekend with a shot to personally distance themselves from one of their closest rivals in the standings.

Sunday's women's game takes on some added meaning as the team will be taking donations for Soccer4Hope, a non-profit group that the Dinos have teamed up with. Several Dinos players will be travelling to South Africa in early 2011to help improve the lives of struggling girls and young women in Zimbabwe and South Africa through the sport.

More information: FLYER - www.dinos4hope.com

The Dinos women return from a successful prairie road swing in which they corralled four of a possible six points in the standings, beating the Regina Cougars on a penalty kick and then drawing with the Manitoba Bisons. However the Dinos are hoping that the two points they missed out on in Winnipeg don't come back to haunt them with only four games to go.

Currently in fifth place in Canada West, Calgary trails fourth place Saskatchewan by two points and own narrow leads over Fraser Valley (sixth) and Regina (seventh). Luckily enough for the Dinos, they will get their chance to personally unseat the Huskies of their fourth place standing this weekend, where they host both U of S and the University of Alberta Pandas.

In mid-September the Dinos went 0-1-1 against their Prairie rivals, losing 3-1 to the undefeated and no.1 Pandas prior to tying the Huskies 2-2. The difference though, is that one of Calgary's main scoring threats has since caught fire.

Forward Tessa Miller has personally contributed to eight of the Dinos' last nine goals during Calgary's recent 4-1-1stretch. With five goals and three assists in her recent hot streak, Miller has vaulted into a tie for second place in the conference with ten points, seven points more than the veteran Calgary quartet of Morena Ianniello, Caitlin Milne, Lindsay Burrowes, and Sheila Morrison.

In fact, including Miller, the top six scorers in Canada West will grace the West Varsity Pitch this weekend. Elizabeth Hudon, Jamie LeMay and Daniela Fuenzalida will play in the Huskie green, while Heather Lund and Carleigh Miller will represent the Pandas. Alberta also boasts Kelti Biggs, who has allowed only three goals through ten games in net.

The men are coming off of a tough road trip to the Vancouver-area this past weekend, the Trinity Western Spartans and the UBC Thunderbirds held them scoreless in two consecutive losses.

That, coupled with the fact that the Saskatchewan Huskies swept their weekend set against Victoria and Fraser Valley, has had fairly big implications for the Dinos. Sitting in second going into their Vancouver trip, the Dinos are now training for the coming weekend tied for the fourth and final playoff spot with the Huskies with only four games left in their seasons.

It is now clearly a four team race for three playoff spots, as UBC (20 points), TWU (18), Calgary (17) and Saskatchewan (17) are at least 11 points ahead of sixth place Fraser Valley, and seven points behind first place Alberta. Needless to say, none of those four teams are very interested in finishing on the outside looking in.

With both the Huskies and the Alberta Golden Bears in Calgary this weekend, the Dinos can personally affect their playoff destinies by taking care of the two pivotal head-to-head matchups. Playing the two teams back in September, Calgary lost to the Bears by a score of 3-1 before tying at one with the Huskies in Saskatoon.

At 5-3-2, head coach Brian McDonnell has been behind the Dinos rise to the top of the conference, infusing an offensive touch to a typically defensive-oriented team. Izak Lawrence is fourth in Canada West with six goals, while senior Brian Delaney has added three.

Despite his shutout streak having been stopped at four with the two losses this past weekend, #J.P. Crescenzi# remains atop the league in save percentage, stopping 86% of the shots he has faced.

Paul Craig and Josh Northey lead the Huskies with ten points each on the season, good for a share for second in the conference, while Alberta is led by red-hot forward Sam Lam, who sits comfortably in first in Canada West points with seven goals and ten assists. Mark Diakiw and Jaswinder Gill have played every possible minute in net for both the Huskies and Bears, with Gill holding the slight advantage statistically between the two.

Both Dinos teams meet up with the Huskies on Saturday, and the Pandas and Golden Bears on Sunday. Game times are at 12 and 2:15 at the West Varsity Soccer Pitch.

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