CALGARY – Despite out chancing their opponent, the University of Calgary Dinos came up on the wrong end of a 3-1 score to the Mount Royal Cougars on Friday night at the Father David Bauer Arena.
Calgary threw 20 shots on goal in the first period and finished the night with 34 attempts on Mount Royal goaltender Riley Morris, but only one puck got past him.
The result sees the Cougars leapfrog the Dinos in the Canada West standings with a one-point lead on third place heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
"I thought the first 30 minutes were really good, we controlled the game and then they made it 1-0, after that we just stopped playing," said Dinos head coach
Mark Howell. "We need to make sure we come out with a really solid effort next weekend; we need to find a way to play a complete game."
After heavy pressure by the Dinos in the first period, it was the Cougars who struck first at 4:03 of the middle frame off a quick wrist shot by Brad Kennedy, who beat Calgary netminder
Brodan Salmond through his legs.
Momentum shifted in favour of the Cougars, who struck again in the final five minutes of the period. Defenceman Jesse Lees shook off his check and fired a shot over the shoulder of Salmond to take a two-goal lead.
The Dinos pulled within one with 42 seconds remaining in the second with their only goal of the night when
Chris Rauckman cashed in on a turnover and launched a shot past the blocker of the Cougars goaltender.
The only goal of the third period came off the stick of Ryley Lindgren, who capped off an impressive two days for himself after scoring the double-overtime winner on Thursday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Calgary pulled their goaltender in the final minutes of regulation but could not muster a quality scoring chance as they dropped their second straight in the Crowchild Classic series.
The Dinos outshot the Cougars on the night 34-22.
The Dinos will close off their regular season against the Lethbridge Pronghorns in a home-and-home series, while the Cougars make the trip to Vancouver to face the UBC Thunderbirds.
