CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – The University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team's season came to an unexpected close Friday following a 4-2 national quarter-final loss to the host UPEI Panthers at the Cavendish Cup U SPORTS Championships inside the Eastlink Centre.

The Dinos finish an unforgettable season that saw them claim their first Canada West Championship since 1996 and rattle off a record-breaking 23-game win streak to close the regular season as the No. 1 team in the country.

UPEI was first to get on the board Friday as they fired a shot from close range. After some confusion about if the puck hit the post or caromed off the back of the net – the officials turned to replay and ruled it was indeed a good goal by Drake Pilon.

"UPEI came out with a ton of energy. They were really physical, it took a long time for us to figure out how to respond to that. Eventually, we got to it, but in these games and these moments, every little detail matters," said Calgary head coach Mark Howell. "I give UPEI a lot of credit, I thought they played extremely hard and we did not make enough plays to accomplish what we wanted to accomplish."

The Panthers were able to add one more to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission as Andrew Picco found the back of the net.

Calgary was able to get back into it mid-way through the second on the power play. Off a bit of a broken play, Connor Gutenberg was able to get the puck to Bradley Schoonbaert. The senior unleashed a missile to make it a one-goal game with 9:34 left in the second.

The Dinos nearly tied things up late in the second with a pair of strong chances. The first came on a three-on-one that ended with Jonah Capriotti making an outstanding stick save with just over three minutes left in the frame. The second happened in the dying seconds of the period where Josh Maser was racing to get his stick on a long pass behind the defence, but Capriotti was able to just get a stick to it for the poke check. Noah King was there for the rebound but wasn't able to get a clean connection on the backhand attempt.

"We had to get around the puck faster, they were swarming the puck with a lot of pressure and speed. We have a lot more time in our bigger rink and today we didn't have a lot of time and space and we had a hard time getting adjusted," said Howell.

Early in the third, Kaleb Pearson brought the home crowd to their feet with an impressive individual effort to put the Panthers up 3-1, before Troy Lajeunesse made it 4-1 with 13 minutes remaining.

Maser was able to hammer home one late to give the Dinos faithful some hope, but it was too little too late as the Panthers prevailed on their home ice.

Carl Tetachuk finished the night making 27 saves for the Dinos, while Capriotti was credited with 20 in the win.

"We have had lots of successes this year when we look at all the achievements it was terrific but coming to this event is a one-game showdown and learning the importance of being ready to play fast and physically and adjust quicker is important. We knew what they were going to do, this rink is a little different for us, so all of us have to learn from this and grow," Howell explained.

Friday night was the final game in a Dinos jersey for Brendan De Jong, Schoonbaert, and Jordan Xavier, who graduate from the program this season.

"There are a number of accomplishments for our team. 23 wins in a row, the growth of so many players that got better every single week and culminated by winning a Canada West championship, which hadn't been done in 27 years for the University of Calgary – that was a major moment," Howell added. "Yet I cannot take away the sting that everyone feels today, it is an awful and empty feeling. I think over time we will look at the accomplishments but ultimately you want to win your last game and it is hard when you get to the best eight teams in the country.

"We beat great teams in the playoffs but when you come here it is different and we have to learn from it." 

-UC-