CALGARY – First-year goaltender Maisie Cope earned her first career shutout as she helped lead the University of Calgary Dinos women's hockey team to a 2-0 victory over the Manitoba Bisons Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena. 

The rookie - who came into the night with a 1-4 record despite a solid 1.58 goals against average - blocked all 22 shots throughout the 60 minutes and was all smiles post-game.

"It's surreal," Cope said, beaming. "It's so amazing, especially when at the start of the season it was always going the other way; the other goalie is getting the shutout. It's just tough coming in like that, but tonight it's just an amazing feeling."

"She's a great human and a great goaltender," said Dinos head coach Josh Gosling. "I'm really excited for what her U SPORTS career could look like. She is one of our hardest workers. She's doing everything right and it's great to see her get rewarded."

With a slow start to the game, it wasn't until 16 minutes into the first period when the goal light went off in favour of the home team. A battle in the Bisons' corner had the puck popping out to Hannah Reagh who was waiting at the right face-off dot. A quick shot on the short side past goaltender Emily Shippam would go to give the Dinos a 1-0 advantage at the end of 20 minutes of play.

With Manitoba looking to bounce back, there were plenty of opportunities in the penalty-filled second period. With eight penalties dished out - five of which went to Dinos - the Bisons just had no luck finding the back of the net thanks to Calgary's special teams blocking shots left, right, and centre.  

"The details were better," said Gosling. "We did a great job blocking shots today. We had a lot of girls get in the right lanes. It was almost a bit of a controlled disaster, but we controlled it in the right way and did enough to get the puck out. I'm really happy with those players and really excited with how we're blocking shots."

Despite chances from both teams, the score remained the same until the game's closing minute. With Manitoba taking one last chance to get on the board with the extra attacker in the final minutes of play, the reigning Canada West Player of the Week Sydney Mercier notched the insurance goal for the home team on the empty net to complete the 2-0 win.

"Today was heart," said Gosling. "Today, I think both teams were in the mud. I don't think anybody loved the way they played and I don't think anybody loved the details in the game, but we can be proud that we came out on top.

"Good teams win bad hockey games. We did enough to win, but if we do that tomorrow we're going to be in a lot of trouble so we've got to make sure we're ready to go."

Added Cope: "We need to continue to drive to the net. We get a lot of opportunities when we get scrambled in front, and if we keep blocking shots, we'll have success."

The Dinos and Bisons will rematch on Saturday at Father David Bauer Arena with a 2 p.m. puck drop.

-UC-