CALGARY – With one quarter of the women's hockey regular season in the record books, both the University of Calgary Dinos and the University of Alberta Pandas are looking for any advantage they can find over the rest of the Canada West field as they find themselves tied for first in the standings.

Both teams sit at 4-2 records tied for the lead in Canada West with the Saskatchewan Huskies as they embark on the first of two home-and-home Battles of Alberta this season.

The Dinos find themselves with this record after split series with Regina and UBC and a sweep of Lethbridge. The most recent of those series came last weekend when the Dinos hosted the UBC Thunderbirds. That series saw the Dinos kept out of the first game by some superb goaltending from T-Bird goalie Melinda Choy, who kept out 39 of 41 shots en route to a 3-2 UBC win. The following night the Dinos rebounded and blanked the visitors 6-0 in a dominating performance.

Alberta enters the weekend on a three-game winning streak after steamrolling Lethbridge in 6-0 and 5-0 shutouts last weekend and splitting their series with UBC with a 4-3 loss and a 6-1 victory.

Alberta has always been a powerhouse in the CIS and owes part of that to solid goaltending. Part of their current record is the fact that they have two strong goalies, both leaders in Canada West statistics. Fourth-year Waskatenau, Alta. native Kanesa Shwetz currently has the best save percentage in Canada West at .955 and a 1.00 goals-against average over three games while second year Fiske, Sask. native Michala Jeffries is right behind her with a .926 save percentage and 1.35 goals-against average. Both goalies have two wins and a loss to their credit.

Calgary has also owed much of its success to strong goaltending in the form of Amanda Tapp. The first year 'keeper is right behind the Pandas goalies statistically with a .913 save percentage and a 1.61 goals-against average.

Hayley Wickenheiser has outscored everyone in the CIS so far this season with fifteen points, six goals and nine assists, over six games including a six point weekend against UBC. Aiding Wickenheiser in the scoring department is third-year forward Elana Lovell who has three goals and four assists to her name this year. Calgary has also seen secondary scoring from rookie Maddison Gee, who has two goals and two assists, while fifth-year captain Cait O'Hara who has chalked up a goal and three assists.

The Pandas enter the game with numerous threats on the score sheet. Those treats include fifth year striker Leah Copeland with four goals and four assists and third year forward Sarah Hilworth with three goals and five assists. Alberta's rookies have also impressed this season with forward Katie Stewart putting up seven points so far and fellow first year Riana Magee notching three goals and two assists.

The teams clash in a home-and-home series this weekend that begins on Friday night in the provincial capital at Clare Drake Arena for a 7 p.m. start.

The teams then travel back to Calgary for the second go-around on Saturday night as they meet at the Olympic Oval on the Calgary campus for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.

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