CIS women's hockey Friday roundup: Pandas’ third-period comeback gives series lead

EDMONTON, AB – Three goals in 2:58, early in the third period, gave the No.6 Alberta Pandas a 4-2 lead, taking game one of the Canada West best-of-three semi-final series against the No.8 Saskatchewan Huskies by the same score, Friday afternoon at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.

Third-year forward Alannah Kedra notched two of the three goals, including the game-winner, while sophomore rearguard Kayla Lavallee started the comeback. Third-year forward Janelle Malcolm also tallied for the home team while senior defender Nicole Pratt added two assists.

Fourth-year forward Danny Stone had a goal and an assist for the visitors, Cara Wooster adding a single for Saskatchewan.

The Huskies had control of the game in the early-going, keeping all the play in the Alberta end for the first eight minutes and leading the shot clock 3-0, but couldn’t put a goal past conference goaltending leader Kaitlyn Chapman.

As the period progressed, the momentum slowly started to shift in favour of the Pandas, but Alberta had trouble getting shots to the net, taking until the 13:21 mark of the opening frame to register their first.

A tentative 20 minutes by both squads led to zeros on the scoreboard after one, but the Huskies struck first in the second at 5:46, as Wooster found a loose puck in the faceoff circle and used a defender to screen Chapman, wristing a shot inside the far post for the 1-0 lead.

The Pandas responded at the 12:29 mark, with senior forward Katie Borbely doing all the work by deftly rushing up through Saskatchewan defenders and putting a backhand on net, hitting the pad of netminder Mackenzie Rizos before Malcolm cleaned up the rebound to tie the score at one.

Stone, hailing from Prince Albert, SK, would then regain the Huskie lead late in the second on the power-play, roofing a slap shot from the point with 1:40 left to go.

Returning the favour in the third was Lavallee, however, putting a point shot low to the stickside that eluded Rizos, 2:25 into the final frame.

On an ensuing man-advantage 1:34 later, a Sarah Hilworth shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle hit the post but ricocheted underneath Rizos into the crease where Kedra potted the rebound for the one-goal lead.

The Abbotsford, BC native then got her second of the night 1:24 after that when she sent a rebound top shelf, earning her third two-goal game in her last five. The Yale Secondary school grad now has nine points over that span.

Saskatchewan had one last chance in the third period, with Alberta taking a late interference penalty, but the Panda defence stood tall and held off the conference’s second-most productive offence.

Alberta finished the afternoon going 1-4 on the power-play while the Huskies went 1-6.

Game two of the best-of-three series will go tomorrow afternoon at 2 PM MT.

Source: Alberta Sports Info

TORONTO - Brittany McHaffie scored a pair of goals to lead the Queen's Gaels women's hockey team to a 3-2 victory over the York University Lions at Canlan Ice Sports on Friday night (Feb. 17), leveling their best-of-three series at one game apiece.

The Lions won the first game of the series in Kingston, Ont., on Wednesday night (Feb. 15) by a 4-3 score.

In the dying moments of Friday's game it looked as though the Lions had tied the contest and sent it to overtime as they clearly scored, but the referees waved off the goal, ruling that it had crossed the line after the final buzzer.
It was a disappointing end to an exciting game that featured numerous scoring opportunities for both sides.

The first period ended in a scoreless draw as neither team got many chances on net. The Gaels outshot the Lions 5-4 and had the best chance of the period when it looked as though they had scored, but the referees called back the goal because York netminder Megan Lee (Orillia, Ont.) had been run over in the crease.

Play picked up significantly in the second and both teams came out with a bang. The Gaels got on the board first just 13 seconds into the period when McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) scored her second of the post-season to give Queen's a 1-0 lead. That advantage was short-lived, however, as the Lions responded just 20 seconds later on a goal by Lisa Stathopulos (Toronto), also her second of the playoffs.

The two teams traded chances back and forth after that but neither was able to find the back of the next for most of the frame as Lee and her counterpart, Mel Dodd-Moher (Stittsville, Ont.), stood tall.

The Gaels finally broke the deadlock at 15:53 of the second with a power play goal scored by Shawna Griffin (Redwood Meadows, Alta.) that once again gave Queen's a one-goal lead. This time, they maintained it throughout the rest of the period and into the third, when they increased their lead to two on McHaffie's second of the game and third of the playoffs. That goal was also scored on the power play with less than four minutes off the clock in the final frame.

Katrina Tollis (Hamilton, Ont.), who scored the winning goal on Wednesday, gave her team life in this game with a power play goal of her own mid-way through the period with an assist to Stathopulos.

The Lions continue to press for the equalizer as time wound down. With less than three minutes left they got four shots on goal in a row but could not get any of them past Dodd-Moher, and they outshot the Gaels 15-7 in the frame. But they were not able to capitalize on any of those chances before time expired, sending the series back to Kingston, Ont., on Sunday.

The two teams will meet in the deciding contest at 4:30pm at Kingston Memorial Arena. The winner will advance to the OUA semifinals next week while the loser will see their season come to an end.

Source: York Sports Info

CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos took game one of the best-of-three Canada West semi-final 3-0 against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns on Friday night at Winsport's Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park.

The Dinos came out of the first period with a 2-0 lead and rounded out the scoring in the third as Iya Gavrilova potted her second of the night. Amanda Tapp was good when she needed to be, making 18 saves for the shutout.
 
Lethbridge came out strong in the opening period, but a pair of minor penalties seemed to hinder the Pronghorns as Calgary got its offence going. The Dinos made it 1-0 at the 12:29 mark as Gavrilova beat Lethbridge netminder Crystal Patterson with a shot from inside the hash marks.

The home team extended its lead with three minutes to go in the period. Erin Davidson broke into Pronghorns' zone from the left side where she fired a shot that skipped past Patterson to make it a 2-0 game going into the first intermission. Despite a bit of a slow start, Calgary held a commanding lead in the shot department at 14-5.

Neither team seemed to be able to get anything going during the second stanza. Each time one squad appeared to be on the verge of something, one of their players was sent to the penalty box. Tapp was key for the Dinos in the middle frame making eight saves to keep the score at 2-0. Her best save came as she denied Megan Bach's one-timer from right in front of the net by squeezing the puck between her pads.

The third period saw the Dinos added to their total with a third goal on the night at 9:07. A tip-in off Stephanie Ramsay's point shot by Gavrilova was her second marker on the night. Hayley Wickenheiser picked up her second assist of the night on the play.

The Pronghorns received a late power play as Stephanie Zvonkovic was sent to the penalty box. With the sizable 3-0 hill to climb, though, Lethbridge decided to leave its goaltender in as they were unable to find the back of the net.

The Dinos outshot the Pronghorns 32-18. Calgary was 0-for-4 on the power play, while Lethbridge went 0-for-5.

These two teams will meet up in game two of this best-of-three Canada West semi-final Saturday night at Winsport's Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park. Puck drop is 8 p.m. If necessary, the series will go to a deciding third game on Sunday at 6:15 p.m.

Source: Calgary Sports Info