Shorthanded Dinos smash Pronghorns
By Stephane Arnault, January 29 2015 —
The University of Calgary Dinos (11–5–4) women’s hockey team thumped the last place University of Lethbridge Pronghorns (4–16–0) 5–0 at the Father David Bauer Arena on Jan. 23.
“I’m really happy with the way we played tonight,” said Dinos head coach Danielle Goyette.
The Dinos won without all-star forward Hayley Wickenheiser in their lineup.
Wickenheiser was attending the Canadian National Women’s Hockey Camp in Montreal.
“She’s hopefully coming back for next game,” Goyette said.
Dinos forward Jenna Smith scored first halfway through the opening period. Smith crashed the net and jammed the puck home to give the Dinos a 1–0 edge.
Two minutes into the second, Dinos forward Heather Berzins swept in her own rebound on one knee, doubling Calgary’s lead to 2–0.
“After I shot it, I saw the puck and I just kind of knew,” Berzins said. “I’m kind of falling into my own confidence on this team, so that was kind of a good point for me to get to tonight.”
Later in the period, Kate Lumley sniped a shot from the slot, going crossbar-down and in.
Calgary peppered Lethbridge goalie Crystal Patterson with 14 shots in the middle frame, carrying a 3–0 lead into the final period.
The Dinos netted two more goals in the third, courtesy of Janelle Parent and Iya Gavrilova. Parent finished the night with a goal and an assist. Gavrilova’s marker was her league-leading 18th goal and 33rd point of the season.
Late in the contest, Lethbridge winger Sadie Lenstra dished out a questionable hit on Dinos forward Jenna Smith. Lenstra clipped Smith with a high check. Smith wasn’t injured on the play.
“This is not something we need in our game,” Goyette said. “We can’t forget they’re students. They’re not paid to play hockey, and a hit like that is not something we like to see.”
The Dinos outshot the Pronghorns 34–18, firing everything they could at Patterson. The Pronghorn netminder leads the league with 716 total saves this season.
“She’s big and covers the net,” Goyette said. “We knew if we tried to be fancy and just put a couple pucks on net it was going to be difficult for us. We put a lot of pucks on net and looked for the rebound because if we don’t have traffic in front, she will stop the first shot.”
The win was a vital confidence booster for the Dinos. The club was coming off a two-game sweep at the hands of their cross-town rivals, the Mount Royal Cougars.
“It was a really tough weekend for us last week,” Goyette said. “I feel we came back today and were ready to play.”
Dinos goalie Hayley Dowling made 18 saves for her first shutout of the season. It was Calgary’s first shutout of the season.
The Dinos will take on the Regina Cougars in a pair of home-and-home games on Jan. 30 and 31. Puck drop for game one goes on Friday at 7 p.m. and at 3 p.m. on Saturday for game two.