CALGARY – The Mount Royal Cougars have forced a decisive Game 3 of their Canada West semi-final with a 3-2 win over the Calgary Dinos on Saturday night at the Father David Bauer Arena.
The Cougars got the game-winning goal with 32 seconds remaining in regulation as Tianna Ko continued her incredible run in the series – now with four of her team's five goals.
Elizabeth Lang scored in both the first and second periods to give the Dinos one-goal leads, but Mount Royal was the only team to find the back of the net in the final frame.
"We know we have to keep the puck low in the last minute, we forced something that was not there, and we paid for it," explained Dinos head coach
Danielle Goyette. "It does not matter if it is the last game of the season or the first, we have to play the way that we can as a team, tomorrow we have to come and play 60 minutes"
With a berth in the conference final in their sights, the Dinos got off to a quick start, opening the scoring just over a minute into the first period.
Sara Craven centred the puck on a backhand pass and Lang found the back of the net to put the Dinos on the board early. Shortly after the opening goal, a two-on-one developed the other way for the Cougars and
Kelsey Roberts made an excellent save to keep the Dinos in the lead.
Mount Royal netminder Kaitlyn Ross made her best save of the game to keep her team within one early in the second period as she denied the Dinos on an odd-man rush. With five minutes remaining in the period, Ko scored her third of the playoffs off an offensive zone faceoff to tie the game.
The teams did not stay tied for long, as the Dinos regained their lead under a minute later. Craven started the breakout from the Calgary zone, which developed into another two-on-one opportunity. Craven made a centring pass to Lang who fired the puck home for her second of the night.
The Cougars tied the game again early in the third period off a high deflection by Breanne Trotter in front of the net.
In the final minute, when it looked like overtime was inevitable, Ko accepted a centring pass and fired a wrist shot past Roberts for her second of the night which stood as the deciding goal.
The Dinos and Cougars will play the final game of their best-of-three series on Sunday at 6 p.m. at Father David Bauer Arena. The winner will advance to face the Alberta Pandas in the conference final and earn a spot at the national tournament.
