BOX SCORE CALGARY – The No. 2 University of Calgary Dinos jumped on the visiting University of British Columbia Thunderbirds early as they picked up a 4-1 victory in Game 1 of the Canada West Final at the Father David Bauer Arena on Friday night.

With the win, Calgary will have a chance to seal its second straight conference title after they defeated Alberta in last year's championship series. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. Saturday night for Game 2. If necessary, Game 3 will go on Sunday at 4 p.m.

While the Dinos entered the series as defending CIS champions, UBC played the role of Cinderella all season long, improving from one-win in 2011-12, to a trip to nationals a year later. Faced with the tough task of trumping first-year goaltender Danielle Dube, Calgary stepped up, capitalizing twice in the first period of Game 1.

Dominating both ends of the rink, Calgary used a strong fore check to establish an early advantage on UBC. The Dinos outshot the Thunderbirds 14-4 through 20 minutes, aided by a couple of special team showings.

“Every team we are going to face, we want to get a lot of shots because it will put a lot of pressure on their goalie,” explained Dinos bench boss Danielle Goyette. “Tomorrow is going to be a battle, we can't expect the same result, and we have to be prepared to work hard.”

At the 7:02 mark of the opening frame, Calgary found a hole on the former Team Canada netminder Dube for the first tally of the series. Breaking in from the right side, Erika Mitschke drove towards the goal and lifted a backhand attempt over the UBC goaltender for her first of the postseason.

“We knew we needed to get a fast start on them, it felt good to get that goal and grab the momentum.” shared Mitschke. “She is a good goalie so we knew the more pucks we got on the net, the better our chances would be.”

Entering off a fantastic series against Alberta, the Dinos' captain continued her impressive run, extending her club's lead to 2-0. Tanya Morgan grabbed a loose puck in the slot where she fired it past Dube for her fourth goal of the playoffs on the power play at 14:03.

With five minutes left in the second period, Canada West MVP Hayley Wickenheiser got the chance she needed to bury her first of the playoffs. In alone on Dube, Wickenheiser wired a shot high glove and beat the Thunderbirds 'tender. Assisted by Iya Gavrilova and Stephanie Ramsay, Wickenheiser's tally was the lone one of the middle frame as the home side carried a 3-0 lead into the third.

At the 11:16 mark of the third, UBC finally found the back of the net. Nicole Saxvik redirect a point shot from the side of the goal, eluding Amanda Tapp for her fourth of the second season.

Credited with a five-on-three advantage, Calgary put the game away to regain a three-goal lead. Wickenheiser dished a cross-ice pass to the right side where Gavrilova tapped the puck behind Tapp. The marker was the Russian forward's third of the playoffs and rounded out the scoring.

Tapp turned away 22 of 23 shots while Dube made 19 saves at the opposite end of the rink. Calgary was 2-for-10 on the power play, while UBC was 1-for-11.

-UC-