CALGARY – Noah Boyko's go-ahead goal in the second period propelled the Alberta Golden Bears to a 5-2 win over the University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team on Saturday evening at Father David Bauer Arena.
With the win, Alberta earns the weekend sweep, while Calgary suffers consecutive regular-season losses for the first time since January 2020. Both teams now hold 5-2-1 records.
"They're a good team. They work hard, compete, and play fast, we knew that heading in and just got out skated," said Calgary head coach
Mark Howell after the game. "We didn't have quick enough support on either end of the ice. I don't think that our effort or compete was sustained outside of a handful of guys tonight."
Calgary got off to a strong start, as
Colson Gengenbach corralled the loose puck in the slot to open the scoring, netting his seventh goal of the season. Joel Sexsmith responded for Alberta to even the score late in the first period.
The Dinos and Golden Bears traded goals by
Riley Stotts and Alex Thacker until mid-way through the second period when Boyko beat Calgary netminder
Carl Stankowski five-hole on a laser of a wrist shot.
Things got worse for the Dinos in the third period as the Bears continued to press the issue and added two more goals from Adam Hall and Josh Prokop for insurance.
Calgary's power play was shut out on Saturday, going 0-for-8, following four goals on the man advantage a night earlier. The Golden Bears also struck shorthanded.
Alberta goaltender Matt Berlin played an integral role in the win with stops on 19 of 21 shots, coming up with many timely saves.
"Alberta pressured real hard tonight, we got stubborn and tried to make the perfect play instead of the right play and as a result, we couldn't execute on the power play", added Howell.
The Dinos will look to bounce back in two weeks when they travel to Regina to take on the Cougars for a pair of games, beginning on Nov. 3. The Golden Bears will carry momentum back home for a matchup versus the Saskatchewan Huskies, also opening on Nov.
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