CALGARY – For the second straight night, the University of Calgary Dinos women's hockey team came up a goal short, falling 3-2 to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday at Father David Bauer Arena.
The Dinos entered the rematch off a 3-2 shootout loss in Friday's season opener.
Dinos goaltender
Maisie Cope and Huskies netminder Clara Juca traded stops through a busy opening period, with Cope turning aside 16 of the 17 shots she faced. The one that got through came with just over six minutes left in the period, when Hallie Franklin banged home a rebound on the right side.
Calgary found its footing in the second period, outshooting Saskatchewan 8-7 in the frame. The Dinos pulled even with just over seven minutes left in the period when fourth-year forward
Mikayla Blomquist batted a
Sydney Mercier shot out of the air and into the net for her first goal as a Dino.
Saskatchewan retook the lead less than five minutes into the third, when Peppi-Pauliina Virtanen's wrist shot from the upper slot found the back of the net. Makenna Stevens added a third goal from near the blue line less than 40 seconds later.
"We got a great group that wants to work," said Dinos head coach
Josh Gosling when asked about his team's resilience this weekend. "They just got to consistently work. We'll keep pushing that, and we'll keep driving for 60 minutes. But at the end of the day, it's in that group, we just have to execute."
The Dinos kept pushing and were rewarded late. With Cope pulled for an extra attacker in the final two minutes of regulation, Mercier tipped home a
Jayde Sansregret feed to cut the deficit to one. It was Mercier's second goal of the season, and she finished with a goal and an assist.
The Huskies held on from there. Juca finished with 17 saves, while Cope made 28 stops in the loss.
"At the end of the day, this needs to be a learning weekend," Gosling said. "We need to come back ready to go."
The Dinos will return to action Friday, Oct. 16, when they travel to face the Regina Cougars at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre. The game can be seen live on Canada West TV powered by BioSteel.
Saskatchewan will host the Manitoba Bisons in its home opener on Friday, Oct. 16 at Merlis Belsher Place.
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