BOX SCORE CALGARY – Renewing an old rivalry from their ACAC days, the defending CIS champion University of Calgary Dinos made quick work of the Mount Royal University Cougars Thursday night, posting a 3-1 win in women's hockey action at Father David Bauer Arena.

Mount Royal was outshot by a 45-15 margin on the night as the Dinos poured on the offence, forcing Cougars netminder Kendall Kilgour to make 42 stops.

With the win, the Dinos extend their lead atop the Canada West standings to five points with a 10-2-1 record, while Mount Royal falls to 6-5-2. The two teams will renew acquaintances Friday night, with Mount Royal hosting that one at Flames Community Arenas. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

Despite their 10th win in the first 13 games of the season, however, Dinos head coach Danielle Goyette still sees room for improvement with her squad.

“We came out and played our game for the first couple of minutes, but after that we went back to some bad habits,” said the sixth-year bench boss. “We didn't play the game we wanted to as a team. We're not playing our best hockey right now, and we can't rely on other teams to make it easy for us. We should have finished better tonight and put the puck in the net, and we need to focus every time we're on the ice. But we do have the chance to face them again in 24 hours, and we need to take advantage of our opportunities.”

The Dinos scored once in each period. Jenna Smith opened the scoring for the Dinos 6:42 into the contest, taking a feed from Hayley Wickenheiser and beating Kilgour. In the second at the 5:38 mark, Elana Lovell gave Calgary a 2-0 lead, with assists to Heather Berzins and Kelsie Lang, while Erika Mitchke iced it for Calgary at the 17:19 mark of the third, taking a sweet pass from Elana Lovell, who had just come out of the penalty box, on a two-on-one and put it into the cage.

Mount Royal's lone tally came in the late stages of the second period when Tanika Dawson potted her fourth of the season, the only shot to elude Dinos goalie Amanda Tapp on the night. She made 14 saves in the victory.

Neither team was successful on the power play, with Mount Royal going 0-for-3 while the Dinos were unable to convert any of their five chances with the man advantage.

-UC-