CALGARY – With a hat trick from Hayley Wickenheiser, a shutout from Amanda Tapp, and multi-point performances by rookies Jenna Smith and Chelsea Peterson, the Calgary Dinos rolled over the UBC Thunderbirds 6-0 at the Olympic Oval Saturday.

BOX SCORE

The dominant win for the Dinos split the weekend series after UBC emerged with a hard-fought 3-2 win in the opener Friday.

The Dinos opened the game strong trying to make up for a lethargic first period from the previous game that contributed to their loss. Wickenheiser opened up the scoring 10:14 into the first period after Smith fed her the puck as she drove into the left side of the T-Birds' zone. Wickenheiser she finished the effort by sniping a shot past UBC goalie Melinda Choy.

The early scoring was a stark contrast to the prior evening when Choy had frustrated the Dinos, turning away 39 of 41 shots.

Choy was beaten again by Wickenheiser five minutes later. Smith drove towards the net with the puck before dropping a pass back to the national team captain who filed her second goal of the night into the top left corner with ease. Rookie Erika Mitschke also earned an assist on that marker.

Elana Lovell found herself on a breakaway 8:41 into the second, making it 3-0 on her third goal of the season.

A minute and a half later, Maddison Gee increased the Dinos lead to four goals after Peterson fired a wraparound attempt into the pads of Choy. Shannon Davidson took another shot with the first rebound right in front of the UBC net before Gee finally stuffed the puck over the line. Peterson added a power play goal off a feed from Wickenheiser just 38 seconds into the third period to make it 5-0.

With Choy pulled in favour of Hillary Talbot, Wickenheiser again went to work. On a Dinos line change, she grabbed the puck at her own blue line, danced around a quartet of UBC defenders, and completed the hat trick, sliding the puck past Talbot as she blazed past the left side of the net.

At the other end of the rink Dinos goalie Amanda Tapp faced significantly less action, stopping all 11 shots fired her way on her way to posting her second shutout of the season.

On the power play, the Dinos scored on one out of eight chances while the visitors came up scoreless of four chances.

The victory brings the Dinos' record to 4-2, tying their record with both Alberta and Saskatchewan for the lead in Canada West. UBC, meanwhile, ends the weekend with a 2-2 record and fifth spot in Canada West with a pair of games in hand.

Next weekend the T-Birds will host the 3-1 Regina Cougars while the Dinos will participate in a home-and-home series with their provincial rivals the Alberta Pandas. That series begins in Edmonton on Friday, then move south to Calgary as the Olympic Oval plays host to the second game on Saturday, Oct. 30. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.

-UC-