CALGARY – Sydney Mercier logged the overtime goal just 24 seconds into the extra frame, sending the University of Calgary Dinos women's hockey team to a 3-2 victory against the ninth-ranked Trinity Western Spartans Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena.

While there was plenty of action all game between two of the top teams in Canada West in this one, the scoring didn't start until the third. The Dinos scored a pair early in the frame, only to see the Spartans answer back, setting up Mercier's winner.

Calgary improves to 8-3-2 on the year, while Trinity Western falls to 7-3-1.

"We really liked when we had the puck," said Josh Gosling, head coach for the Dinos. "We have some details to work on away from the puck, but we saw some adversity late on in the third period and pulled through at the end, so I'm really happy with the group on that."

Calgary finally opened the scoring in this one four minutes into the third. Mercier started the sequence with a shot that rebounded to Brooklin Fry in front of Spartans goaltender Olivia Davidson. A quick pop off Davidson's pad left the door open for Brooklyn Anderson to make it a 1-0 game for the home team. Just over a minute later, Mercier doubled the lead at the 5:12 mark. While beating out the Spartans' defense, a breakaway ensued, and she had no trouble tucking it into the top left corner behind Davidson to make it 2-0.

A quick succession of power play goals from the visitors late in the third period would have this game seeing an extra frame of play. At 13:58, Kasey Ditner sent the puck in from the left circle and off Dinos goaltender Amelia Awad's pad before it landed on the stick of Kyra McDonald who made no mistake with the wide-open net to cut the lead in half. A minute and a half later, Jordyn Matthews tied the game off yet another rebound, slipping it in through a Dinos player's legs and over the right pad of Awad. 

Overtime didn't last long, with Mercier picking the puck off a Spartans player at the blue line before heading down in a one-on-one battle. With Davidson coming out of her crease to grab the puck, it was Alex Spence who made a quick move to allow Mercier to tap it in, notching her second of the night to send the Spartans packing and the Dinos into the win column. 

Awad finished the night with a season-high 35 saves for the win to improve to 7-1 on the year.

"The tying goal was a bit my fault from the penalty," said Mercier. "But overtime is fun. We get lots of room to play with and we needed a little bit of redemption from last weekend, so it was nice to get one back."

Trinity Western will look for redemption while the Dinos intend to keep their win streak as the teams face off again on Saturday with a 2 p.m. puck drop from Father David Bauer Arena

"We need to find another gear for tomorrow," said Gosling. "As a group, we need to will a victory. As a group, we need to come together. And as a group, we need to say 'enough is enough, we're going to win another hockey game.'"

Added Mercier: "We're just looking to bring the energy tomorrow – bring back what we did tonight, and keep it consistent for all three periods."

-UC-