Kaye lifts Lethbridge to initial women's hockey win

by Eoin Colquhoun, U of Lethbridge Sports Info
Photo courtesy U of Lethbridge Athletics: Brittney Kaye (left) scored the game-winner on Regina's Lisa Urban (centre) just 10 seconds into overtime

LETHBRIDGE, AB - The Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s hockey squad won its first game of the season in dramatic fashion on Saturday night.

With only 10 seconds elapsed in overtime, Pronghorns’ second year forward Brittney Kaye (Saskatoon, 2nd) broke down the left wing of the Cougars zone and fired a wrist shot that beat Lisa Urban (Edmonton, 3rd) to the short side, giving the Horns the victory.

For the second straight night the Horns outshot their opposition, this time by a 32-24 margin. Once again the Cougars were backed by a strong performance by Urban while the Horns received steady goalkeeping of their own from Ashley Kavanagh (Amherstburg, ON, 2nd). The teams each had their fair share of chances on the powerplay, with the Horns going 1 for 7 on the man advantage while the Cougars were held goalless on ten opportunities.

The teams were held in a stalemate until the 8:54 mark of the middle frame when Shelby Ballendine (Quesnel, BC, 3rd) carried the puck from the sideboards into the middle of the faceoff circle before wiring a shot that beat Urban gloveside. The Horns had a great opportunity to go up by a pair around the 14 minute mark of the period when Dayna Janzen (Sherwood Park, AB, 3rd) was sent in alone on a breakaway; Janzen attempted to deke out Urban, but the Cougars goalie kicked out her pad to deny the Horns forward.

With less than a minute remaining in the second, Regina would find the scoreboard. Kavanagh turned aside two Cougar shots before Kelcie McCutcheon (Ceylon, SK, 4th) buried her own rebound. The Horns had a distinct shots on goal advantage in the second period, putting thirteen on Urban to the six faced by Kavanagh.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the third, so overtime was required to settle the game.

With Kaye’s winner the Horns record moves to 1-3-0 while the Cougars drop to a similar 1-3-0 record. The Horns' next action sees them head out to the west coast to tangle with the UBC Thunderbirds on October 23-24. The Cougars head into their bye week before returning to action to host the Alberta Pandas in two weeks time.