CALGARY- The No.9 University of Calgary Dinos took on the Mount Royal University Cougars Thursday evening in the Crowchild Classic at the Scotiabank Saddledome, losing 3-2 against their cross-city rivals.
Calgary looked to keep their momentum and 5 games win streak alive Thursday against Mount Royal, but their classic rivals would get the best of them.
"We have to give credit to them they played a good game, it's going to cost us in the standings having been in first with such a tight conference," explained Head Coach Danielle Goyette. "Mount Royal has always been the team to give us grief despite what the standings say."
Calgary looked to get things going early but it would be Mount Royal who struck first.
With just four minutes left in the period, Danielle Klein put a shot on net from the goal line that found it's way over Dinos goalie Carissa Fischer, putting the Cougars up 1-0 to end the first period.
Mount Royal wasted no time in the middle stanza to increase their lead to two, just a 1:30 into the frame. Rachel Piitz made a pass from below the goal line to Taralynn Suzuki at the bottom of the circle to put the puck high blocker side and in on Fischer.
The Dinos responded just three minutes later with a power play goal. Iya Gavrilova made a pass to Stephanie Zvonkovic who took a slapshot from the point that found its way past Jess Ross to claim her second of the season and decrease the Cougars lead by one.
"Sometimes you can't be fancy you need to know when to shoot and when to make a move, we definitely learnt that lesson this evening," said Goyette.
With six minutes left in the second and on the power play it looked as if Calgary had tied the game when Zvonkovic put one off the post, keeping the Cougars in the lead 2-1.
On the power play with just over a minute to play in the second period, Mount Royal increased their lead to 3-1 when Devonie Deschamps redirected a shot from the point and in.
It appeared as though Mount Royal had all the momentum in the final stanza. Calgary faced an uphill battle down 3-1 until Janelle Parent connected on Zvonkovic's pass in front to go backhand, upstairs glove side on Ross to pull Calgary within one with four minutes left to play. That would be as close as Calgary would get though.
The Dinos fall to a record of 11-4-4 while the Cougars improve to 3-13-3.
"As a coach you have to make some adjustments, juggle the lines and try to find something that will motivate the girls or spark something," explained Goyette.
Both teams will meet up once more for regular season action tomorrow night, Friday January 16th at the Father David Bauer Arena. Action is set to get underway at 7 p.m.
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