Canada West Final: Pandas take Game 1 in women's hockey final

by Paul Cartledge, U of Alberta Sports Info Assistant

EDMONTON - Another hard-fought defensive battle opened the 2009-10 Canada West women's hockey championships on Friday afternoon in Edmonton, with the No. 3 Alberta Pandas edging out the No. 6 Manitoba Bisons, taking a 2-0 victory as well as a 1-0 series lead.

Alberta's main offensive juggernauts of Tarin Podloski, Leah Copeland, and Alana Cabana struggled throughout the game due to a stalwart Manitoba defence that shut down any good possible scoring chances.

The Pandas returned the favour to Manitoba's scoring leaders Addie Miles and Tammy Brade, leaving both teams with a period where they registered only two shots on goal.

The stifling defence made Alberta's first shot that much more important and, although alternate captain Lindsie Fairfield's shot from the faceoff dot was turned away by the right pad of rookie Bisons' netminder Tara Lacquette, the second shot rebounded to the open slot in front of Pandas' freshman Meagan Cornelssen, who buried the puck into the empty cage at 5:08 in the opening frame.

The line of Cornelssen, Fairfield, and sophomore Monika Moskalski was arguably the best of the night, as their relentless forecheck was on display several times during the game to keep Manitoba pinned in their own zone.

A fortunate break brought the game's only other goal when third-year blue-liner Nicole Pratt found herself a clear lane to the Manitoba net, crossing through the faceoff circle from the sideboards before firing a low wristshot to the near side at the 12:57 mark of the second period.

Her first goal of the playoffs is the fourth by Alberta defensemen and 10th point, with the High Prairie, AB native leading all scorers on the team with four points and three assists.

The Pandas narrowly outshot the Bisons by an 18-15 margin in the game and Alberta went 0-2 on the power-play while Manitoba had no opportunities.

Game #2 starts at 2:00 p.m. MST on Saturday at Clare Drake Arena. Winner of the series gets the lone Canada West berth to Nationals at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, NS.