CALGARY – The Mount Royal University Cougars women's hockey team defeated the University of Calgary Dinos 3-0 Saturday evening at Father David Bauer Arena. After earning a 1-0 shootout victory Friday night at the Crowchild Classic, the Cougars completed the weekend sweep of their rival Dinos with tonight's victory.

The loss marks the first time since all the way back to the end of November since Calgary (11-9-4) didn't earn at least one point from the contest, while Mount Royal (16-5-3) continued its push for a top-three finish in the league standings.

Following last night's stellar performance on the penalty kill, Calgary was once again challenged by MRU as the Cougars found themselves on the power play just 4:26 into the game. Minutes after the Dinos successfully killed off the advantage, MRU won a faceoff in their own end and first-year Cougar Ava Metzger sent a beautiful tape-to-tape pass to a streaking Kaia Borbandy. Borbandy received the pass between two Calgary defenders and with a burst of speed accelerated past them. The second-year Borbandy fended off a stick check from the defender and maneuvered to her right before sniping the wrist shot past Dinos goalie Gabriella Durante (29 saves) for her first career Canada West goal. 

The Dinos opened the second period on the attack, as they came in with an abundance of energy – applying pressure against MRU in their zone. However, the Cougars were able to shut down the initial flurry by Calgary and quickly regained control of the momentum by rallying to loose pucks in passing lanes. 

Around the 11 minute mark, Dinos forward Josie McLeod chased down a loose puck in the MRU zone and skated hard towards the Cougars goal. McLeod mustered a backhand shot on net while drawing the penalty. However, the Dinos' struggles on the powerplay would continue as they went 0-2 in the period, registering only a few shots on net. 

MRU extended its lead to 2-0 with 5:04 remaining in the second period thanks to Aliya Jomha. MRU won a faceoff in Calgary's zone and Tatum Amy fired a shot that went wide of the net and ricocheted off the boards. The puck found its way onto the stick of Jomha, who was in the perfect position. To her credit, Jomha capitalized on the opportunity and in a flash, ripping the puck past Durante for her eighth goal of the season. 

Despite generating a couple of strong scoring opportunities, the Dinos were unable to solve first-year netminder Scout Anderson, who turned away all 18 shots she faced. Anderson earned her first career Canada West shutout and win. MRU would add one more goal in the third period as they finally cracked the Dinos penalty kill, which had previously gone 8-for-8 on the weekend. MRU forward Athena Hauck netted her sixth of the season to end the Dinos streak. MRU would hold the lead until the buzzer, winning 3-0.

"For us it has always been a collective effort and that's what we'll maintain," Dinos head coach Carla MacLeod said. "Goal scoring is not rocket science, there is some simple math to it. It's about generating more shots and getting to the net front quicker. That's an area we've talked about all year and one that we have to continue to focus on and build our confidence in."

"It (the Crowchild Classic) is a great experience. It's a once in a lifetime, or maybe if you're lucky five times in a lifetime opportunity for a student-athlete. I think it's a privilege as a Dino or a Cougar if you can be a part of that game. To me, the game is bigger than the rivalry – it's about the community and it's about what sport can do. Our girls and our team felt really privileged to be there and we certainly enjoyed the crowd. As a team, we really tried to take in the whole experience and enjoy the opportunity." 

Next weekend the Dinos will head to Manitoba for their final regular season road trip to take on the Manitoba Bisons (11-12-1) for a pair of games. Game one will be played Friday February 3rd at 6 p.m and game two will be played Saturday February 4th at 1 p.m. Both games will be played at Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg. 

MRU will look to continue their winning ways as they face the MacEwan Griffins (6-17-1) in a home-and-home series next weekend. The first game will be played at 7 p.m Friday February 3rd at Flames Community Arena. The final game of the weekend will be played at 5 p.m Saturday February 4th in Edmonton.

-UC-