CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos opened their 2019-20 season with a 2-0 win over the visiting University of Regina Cougars Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena.

Kelsey Roberts made 17 saves for the shutout between the pipes for Calgary, with Elizabeth Lang and Sara Craven scoring third-period goals for the Dinos.

Calgary came out of the gate strong, leading the pace for the opening 20 minutes of play. Their best scoring chance came with five minutes left in the frame when Chelsea Court tried to knock a loose rebound past Regina netminder Morgan Baker off a play started by Calgary's Sage Desjardins. Shots at the end of the first period favoured the Dinos 11-6.

The Dinos continued to press to start the second period, but could not convert. It was Regina that had the best chance early in the period when the Cougars' Sidney Shyiak fired a shot from the right side of the net, hitting the goal post behind the Roberts. The puck bounced right to the goal line, but neither of the Cougars in front was able to fire it home.

Calgary continued to press, and the Dinos' best chance of the frame came five minutes later when Erin Armstrong fired a cross ice pass over to Taylor Beck who tipped the puck just wide of the open net. The Dinos led the Cougars in shots 16-4 in the second.

It was a slower start to the  third period, with neither team giving up many chances. The Dinos went on the power play after Regina's Hannah Pennell took a tripping call at 6:57 into the period. On the advantage Delaney Frey fired a hard shot on Baker who could not handle the puck. Craven picked up the rebound and Lang tapped it home to give the Dinos a 1-0 lead eight minutes into the period.

In the final minutes of the game Craven drove the net alongside Frey and Lang. It appeared like she was looking for the cross pass, but instead she fired a backhand shot past a sliding Baker, putting the game away at 19:01 of the third.

"I started to cheat, and our goalie coach always says that goalies are always looking for that cheat… there was a miracle there was a hole there and I slipped it in," Craven said about her goal. "We have a lot of chemistry, [Frey] and [Lang] are really offensive minded players, they are really skilled and I like to round out the line with the nitty gritty, stand in front of the net kind of player. We like to say our line is electric when it gets going." Craven mentioned about her line that combined for both goals tonight.

Final shots on goal were 38-17 in favour of the Dinos. The teams will face off again in the rematch Saturday afternoon at Father David Bauer Arena, with puck drop at 3 p.m.

-UC-