CALGARY – Fresh off a pair of wins against Lethbridge, the University of Calgary Dinos women's hockey team turns its attention to hosting the upstart UBC Thunderbirds this weekend.
Calgary won the home-and-home series against Lethbridge with a convincing 5-0 shutout for the home opener at the Olympic Oval before fighting their southern Alberta rivals to a 4-3 shootout victory in Lethbridge's home opener.
That performance brings the Dinos' record to 3-1, tied for the lead of Canada West with the Regina Cougars.
The Dinos have dominated play in all four of their games this season, yet still have a loss and the tight shootout win to show for it. Case in point: in Saturday's shootout victory, Calgary doubled Lethbridge in shots on goal with 52 against 26 – yet still needed a seventh round of the shootout to emerge with the two points.
UBC, meanwhile, enters this game after splitting a series against the Alberta Pandas in Edmonton. The first game went to UBC 4-3 before Alberta struck back in game two with a 6-1 rout.
Last weekend the T-Birds saw impressive production from Kaitlin Imai with two goals and an assist on the weekend. Lisa Bonang also had an impressive showing with two goals.
Not surprisingly, Calgary's offensive production has been led by
Hayley Wickenheiser who has pocketed three goals and six assists over four games.
Her linemate
Elana Lovell is right behind with two goals and four assists.
Both Dinos are in the top five Canada West scorers with Wickenheiser tied for first and Lovell in fourth spot.
Amanda Tapp has been solid in goal so far for Calgary, posting a .919 save percentage to go with a goals-against average of just 1.68. Tapp split the crease duties with
Jennifer Mallard last weekend.
The Olympic Oval in Calgary is the venue for both match-ups which happen at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 22 and Saturday, Oct. 23.
Calgary faces its stiffest test of the season so far next weekend, when the Dinos play a home-and-home series against the Alberta Pandas. The first game goes Friday, Oct. 29 in Edmonton, with the rematch next Saturday night at the Olympic Oval.
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