CALGARY – The Calgary Dinos struck early and never looked back in a 4-2 win over the UNBC Timberwolves Saturday at McMahon Stadium, improving their record on the season to 6-2-0. After the loss, UNBC stands at 3-4-1.
Kimia Kassanda got the scoring started in the second minute, capitalizing on a rebound after a near own-goal from UNBC. Less than 10 minutes later,
Owen Antoniuk scored his first of two first-half goals, giving the Dinos a 2-0 lead early.
UNBC battled back, and Jamie Wildash-Chan made it a one-goal game before the 20-minute mark. Both teams had their chances until right before halftime, when Antoniuk made no mistake on a breakaway to give the Dinos a two-goal advantage heading into the second half.
The Timberwolves came out hot to start the second half, with back-to-back chances including a shot off the post.
"It was a tale of two halves," said Dinos' head coach
Ramon Mifflin. "In the first, we were excellent at keeping the ball in possession and breaking them down. In the second half, we changed formation a little bit, let them have the ball and played for the counterattack."
That counterattack proved effective as Kassanda scored his second of the game on a beautiful breakaway goal in the 65th minute after a defensive stop from the Dinos.
"I'm really happy, honestly," said Kassanda. "Happy to finally start scoring more here at McMahon Stadium.
The Dinos stood their ground after taking the three-goal lead. But a penalty in extra time gave UNBC a last-minute goal to make the score 4-2. It was too little too late, though, as the Dinos came away with the win.
"I thought we handled the game very well," said Kassanda. "We stuck to our game plan, and I think our attack is in really good form right now."
Calgary - the top scoring team in the nation thus far - has now scored an impressive 14 goals in its last three games.
The Dinos are back in action Sunday in a huge game against the 5-0-2 Victoria Vikes at McMahon Stadium. UNBC will head to Mount Royal to take on the Cougars tomorrow at 3 p.m..
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