Dinos hockey swept by Mount Royal in Crowchild Classic overtime thrillers

By Sonny Sachdeva, November 24, 2015 —

It was a tumultuous week for the Dinos women’s hockey team.

The University of Calgary club squared off against the Mount Royal University Cougars on Nov. 19–20 for the first Crowchild Classic series of the season, playing game one at the Flames Community Arenas and game two at Father David Bauer Arena.

Both matches extended into double overtime after some thrilling back-and-forth play from the two clubs, but it was Mount Royal who was ultimately able to skate away with the victories.

The first of the two contests saw the Dinos come close to pulling off a dramatic late-game comeback. Mount Royal held a 1–0 lead for most of the night, until Dinos forward Sasha Vafina found the back of the net with less than two minutes remaining in the third period.

Neither team was able to break through in the first overtime segment, but Cougars forward Sarah Weninger ended the contest three minutes into the second extra frame, giving Mount Royal their first win against U of C this season.

Game two of the series saw a better early effort from the Dinos. Captain Iya Gavrilova — the reigning CIS and Canada West Player of the Year — opened the scoring with an expertly handled breakaway with just under seven minutes remaining in the first period.

However, the U of C’s penalty issues caught up to them soon after, allowing the Cougars to score on the powerplay and tie it up in the following period. The Dinos’ dynamic Russian duo continued to step up in the second frame as Gavrilova and Vafina combined to give Calgary another one-goal lead, but Mount Royal evened the score up once again less than a minute later.

For the second straight night, the Cougars ended the game in double-overtime. Mount Royal forward Mairi Sorensen tallied the winner, benefitting from an ill-timed slashing penalty from Gavrilova, who seemingly undid her earlier work with the costly overtime mistake.

Dinos head coach Danielle Goyette was irked by her club’s performance following the back-to-back losses.

“We had players that have been on the team for a long time who made mistakes that they should not be making in November, especially as a veteran,” said Goyette. “At the end of the day, you have to do your job and not do too much.”

Despite the lacklustre results against their crosstown rival, Goyette is pleased with her team’s general effort level, claiming they must simplify their game to find success.

“We’re playing hard, and the way we should be playing,” said Goyette. “We need to put the puck on net and not try to make fancy goals. We’re missing the net and opportunities when we try to get too fancy. Shots create rebounds and traffic, and that’s what we need to be doing.”

With the two overtime losses, the Dinos’ record now stands at 2–8–4. They’ll now travel to Vancouver to face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Nov. 27–28, hoping to right the ship over their next six games before they face the Cougars once again in the next installment of the Crowchild Classic.