EDMONTON - The University of Calgary Dinos women's hockey team scored on both of their first two shots of the game and nearly held on from there, only to see a late charge from the No. 6 Alberta Pandas just squeak out a 3-2 OT win Friday at Clare Drake Arena.

Taylor Anker scored the game-tying goal with 63 seconds remaining in regulation, before Abby Soyko potted the game-winner 48 seconds into OT. Natalie Kieser scored the first goal for Alberta in the second period, after falling behind 2-0 in the first. 

Halle Oswald finished with 11 saves, including one on a penalty shot, as the Pandas (17-2-2) picked up their ninth-straight win. 

Gabriella Durante stood tall for a majority of Friday night's game, making 24 saves in the loss. Calgary was outshot 27-13 in the loss, dropping their conference record to 8-11-3 and snapping their four-game win streak.

Elizabeth Lang and Jess Martens scored for Calgary in the opening 12 minutes, beating Oswald on their first two shots of the game. Lang's goal was a beauty of a finish on a play started by Courtney Kollman. The reigning Canada West Women's Hockey Player of the Week picked off a pass at her own blue line and bolted toward the Panda's goal. Drawing a pair of defenders' attention, Kollman slotted a perfect pass to a flanking Lang who calmly put it home to make it 1-0.

Martens then scored her second of the season on a play in front of the net to double up the Dinos lead early.

Durante was excellent in the first, stopping all 13 Pandas shots she faced. 

Kieser cut the Dinos lead in half early in the second, beating Durante with her ninth goal of the season. Kieser extended her team lead in points thanks to an assist later in the game, now sitting at 19 points in 21 games. 

Evelyn Lawrence had a chance to restore the Dinos two-goal lead three minutes later, but was turned aside by an Oswald poke-check on a penalty shot. 

With just over a minute remaining, the Pandas took advantage of the extra skater by pulling their goalie and it worked perfectly as Anker beat Durante five-hole with 63 seconds left to send the game to overtime, before Soyko snuck a shot through the Dinos goalies arm early in OT. 

The two teams will meet again tomorrow night (6:00 p.m.) in Calgary. 
 
-UC-