CALGARY – With the offensive guns firing for both teams, the Calgary Dinos completed a weekend sweep of the Regina Cougars in a 7-3 scoring frenzy at the Olympic Oval on Saturday night.
The scoring for Calgary was led by rookie strikers Calaine Inglis and Jenna Smith who both earned two goals with Smith notching an additional assist. Also coming up big on the scoresheet was Hayley Wickenheiser who also scored twice and earned an assist.
Inglis was the Dinos firestarter, scoring the Dinos first goal of the game after Regina's Paige Wheeler got Regina on the board early in the first with a powerplay goal set up by Rianne Wight. Inglis' first marker was set up by Melissa Zubick, her first of two assists in the game. Zubick got Inglis the puck below the goal line, allowing her to skate it into the left circle and deposit it through the five-hole of Regina's Lisa Urban.
The second goal for Inglis came 1:05 into the third period with Zubick feeding her a long pass out of the Dinos end to Regina's blue line. The breakaway that ensued saw Inglis rip another shot into the five hole
before it trickled past Urban and into the net.
By the end of the contest, Regina's goaltender Lisa Urban had turned away 31 shots. Her Calgarian counterpart, Amanda Tapp, managed to stop 27 of 30.
Jenna Smith's two goals came late in the first and early in the third, the first to gain the lead and the second to insure it. The first goal was scored 16:59 into the first when Shannon Davidson set Smith up in the corner, which allowing her to drive into the left circle and score in a near carbon-copy of the home team's first marker.
Smith's second goal came off of a pass from Wickenheiser as the two rushed in on a two-on-one 7:20 into the third. Wickenheiser drew the defender and allowed Smith all the time she needed to net her fifth goal of the season, Erika Mitschke also earned an assist on that point.
Regina's offence didn't get their game going until the third period when they were able to score two goals. The first goal came at 9:54 in the third on a Regina five-on-three with both Zubick and Wickenheiser in the box for the Dinos. The goal was scored by Kourtney McCutcheon after she found open ice in front of Tapp and deked in Regina's second goal of the night. Nicole Hollingshead picked up an assist on the goal.
The final goal of the game was scored by Kaitlin Shervan at 18:51 in the third after a Regina point shot rebounded and got lost in a crowd in front of Tapp. Shervan managed to track the puck down in the crowd and fire it home to earn her second goal of the season. Kelcie McCutcheon earned an
assist on that goal.
Wickenheiser, Calgary's point leader, added two goals to the home team's total, the first coming 18 minutes into the second, assisted by Smith and Casey Irving. Her second goal came at 18:07 into the third assisted by Cait O'Hara and Irving.
The remainder of the Dinos scoring came from a single marker from Casey Irving at 9:59 in the second. That goal earned Chelsea Peterson an assist after her initial shot hit a pad and also earned Shannon Davidson an assist after she picked up the rebound and fired it off the post of the unguarded net. Irving then stuffed the puck home with the third effort.
Both team's powerplays saw success in this game with Calgary scoring on two of eight attempts while Regina notched two goals on 10 attempts.
The victory improves the Dinos record to 9-4-1 while Regina falls to 5-7-2 going into the semester break.
The next action for the Dinos is on January 7th and 8th when they play a home-and-home series against their provincial rivals. Regina's next action is on those same days as they play host to their provincial rivals the Saskatchewan Huskies.
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