CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos women's hockey team swept the University of Alberta Pandas for the first time since 2019, winning 4-2 Saturday at Father David Bauer Arena to extend their winning streak to three games.
The victory improves the Dinos' record to 5-4-0-1, while Alberta falls to 1-6-1-0.
Calgary pressed from the opening faceoff and consistently put shots on net, but Alberta scored first on the power play less than seven minutes into the game, when Daniella Martorana's shot deflected off Dinos goaltender
Amelia Awad and in. The Dinos had to wait until the final minute of the period to answer, when
Sydney Mercier knocked in an airborne shot from
Caitlyn Perlinger for her fifth goal of the season, tying the game 1-1.
The second period belonged to the Dinos.
Jada Johns buried a one-timer just seconds after the opening faceoff, and
Makenna Schafer poked home a rebound before the five-minute mark to make it 3-1. It was Schafer's first goal of the season and stood up as the game-winner. Alberta replaced starting goaltender Misty Rey with Grace Glover after the goal, and Glover stopped all 19 shots she faced the rest of the way.
Scarlett Jones pulled the Pandas back within one with under four minutes left in the period.
The one-goal lead held through a tight third period. Calgary killed off an Alberta power play past the midway point of the period, and when the Pandas pulled their goaltender in a final push to force overtime,
Mikayla Blomquist sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final minute. It was her team-leading sixth goal of the season.
Calgary outshot Alberta 39-28, and Awad finished with 26 saves. Mercier and Blomquist each had a goal and an assist, and Perlinger added two assists. Mercier, Blomquist, Perlinger, Johns and
Kyla Mitenko were on the ice together for three of Calgary's four goals.
"I was really happy with the group," said Dinos head coach
Josh Gosling. "I thought there were moments there where we could have sat back, but we thought through some hard plays."
Gosling added that his team kept getting to the right areas of the ice and stayed in the fight throughout.
Looking ahead to next weekend, Gosling said the win gives the team something to carry forward.
"This is a great game for us to build off of," he said. "We're going to use a lot of the same outlets, and we're going to focus on getting into the good areas."
The Dinos will return to action Friday, Nov. 13 when they travel to face the University of Manitoba Bisons at 6 p.m. ABT. The game can be seen live on Canada West TV powered by BioSteel.
Alberta will host the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14.
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