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University of Calgary Athletics

Stephanie Zvonkovic
Bob Frid / UBC Athletics

Wild finish goes to UBC, Dinos' season ends

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BOX SCORE VANCOUVER - With seventy seconds left in regulation time, Sarah Casorso scored the game winning goal to give the UBC Thunderbirds a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Dinos at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre Saturday night.

With the win the 'Birds sweep the best-of-three quarter-final series 2-0 and now move on to the Canada West semifinals next weekend, where they will take on the Saskatchewan Huskies.

Tatiana Rafter, Nikola Brown-John and Melissa Goodwin scored the other goals for UBC. Calgary replied with markers by Erika Mitschke, Heather Berzins and Kelsie Lang.

Leading 3-1 heading into the final period, the Thunderbirds were looking to lock it down in the final frame, but the Calgary Dinos had other ideas. Heather Berzins scored just past the midway point of the third period for Calgary to cut the lead to 3-2. With under four minutes remaining and the Thunderbirds short handed, the Dinos scored the equalizer. Lang beat Danielle Lemon to make it a 3-3 game with 3:30 remaining. However, just like they have done all year, UBC had an answer. With just 1:10 remaining, assistant captain Casorso took matters into her own hands and went end to end, eventually crashing into the Dinos net along with the puck to score the game winning goal.

UBC was stellar on the penalty kill this evening, allowing just one goal on eight opportunities, while finishing the night 0-for-5 on their own power plays.

Lemon got the start in net and was outstanding. She stopped 17 of 20 shots she faced for her first career playoff victory.
 
With under two minutes remaining in the opening frame UBC scored two goals 28 seconds apart to take a 2-0 lead. Rafter, the Canada West's leading scoring during the regular season, opened the scoring and then it was Brown-John beating Hayley Dowling with a nice shot to put the home side in front by two goals through 20 minutes of play.

Calgary struck back five minutes into the second period when an unlucky bounce landed in Lemon's crease and was popped in by the Dinos Erika Mitschke, narrowing UBC's lead to one.
 
With 3:50 on the clock rookie forward Goodwin put the 'Birds up 3-1 after rookies Katie Zinn and Hannah Heisler did work along the end boards to win the puck. That's how the score remained after 40 minutes.

With the victory the Thunderbirds advance to the Canada West semifinals  where they will face off against the Saskatchewan Huskies in a best-of-three series beginning next Friday in Saskatoon. UBC finished the year 2-2 against the Huskies, but 0-2 at Rutherford Arena.    

Calgary, the defending CIS silver medalists, finish the 2013-14 season in the quarter-final round.

The Dinos will host the 2015 CIS Women's Hockey Championship at the Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park next March.

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