CIS women's hockey Friday roundup

Source: Krista McKenna, StFX Manager, Varsity Athletics & Communications

Antigonish, NS - The UPEI Panthers kept their playoff hopes alive with a 1-0 shutout win over the first-place StFX X-Women in AUS hockey action Friday night at the Keating Centre.

The Panthers jumped to a 1-0 advantage when Olivia Doughart (Summerside, PE) notched an unassisted marker. She retrieved an errant pass up the middle of the offensive zone by the X-Women, before depositing the puck behind Sojung Shin (Seoul, Korea).

The teams played to a scoreless second period, with the X-Women going 0-for-3 on the power play. Marie-Soleil Deschenes (Ile-Perrot, QC) made several key saves, including one with the glove hand on a point blast from X-Women defender Nicole Corcoran (Bloomfield, PE), to preserve the one-goal Panther lead.

The third period was also scoreless, making it back-to-back games for the X-Women without a goal.

Deschenes made 28 saves for the win, while Shin turned aside 20 shots in the loss.

The three stars of the game were Deschenes, Doughart and Schyler Campbell (Galloway, NB) of the X-Women.

The final home game of the regular season marked Senior Night for the X-Women. Alex Normore (Bedford, NS), Jenna Downey (Stratford, ON), Kira Dube (Calgary, AB), Kara Power (New Glasgow, NS) and student therapist Courtney Mahoney of Antigonish were honoured for their contributions to the program and StFX Athletics.

With the win, the Panthers wrapped up the regular season with an 8-13-3 record, while the X-Women dropped their second consecutive game to fall to 20-3-0. The Panthers handed the X-Women two out of three of their defeats in the 2014-15 campaign.

The X-Women, who have clinched first place in the conference and an opening round bye in the playoffs, did not have Normore, Downey, Dube and Daley Oddy (Cranbrook, BC) in the line-up. Normore and Oddy are with Team Canada in Spain competing at the World University Games, while Downey and Dube are recovering from injuries.

The X-Women will wrap up the AUS regular season Saturday, Feb. 7, when they face the Dalhousie Tigers in Halifax. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

Source: Alberta Sports Info

EDMONTON – The No.5 University of Alberta Pandas put their best foot forward, skating to a 4-1 win over the University of Calgary Dinos to stay atop the Canada West standings, Friday night at Clare Drake Arena.

 Fourth-year forwards Janelle Froehler and Amy Helfrich each netted a goal and an assist, as did third-year Sasha Lutz. Veteran rearguard Kirsten Toth rounded out the scoring while forwards Jessica Sekulic and Gillian Altheim added two assists apiece.

 Hailing from nearby Ponoka, Alta., Janelle Parent scored the lone goal for the visitors, the Dinos' third-straight loss all but eliminating them from a chance to finish first in the conference and getting Calgary closer to losing their fourth-place spot to the Saskatchewan Huskies, only five points back after Friday night's action.

 With the win, the Pandas now have 54 points on the season, but UBC (51 points) and Manitoba (50 points) remain hot on their heels, all three teams in the mix for first place as well as a "bye" to the playoff semifinals, which the top two teams receive at the end of the regular season next weekend.

 Having not scored since November 15 of 2014, Helfrich got Alberta on the board first at the 8:25 mark of the opening period, taking advantage of a mad scramble in front of the Dino net, poking the puck just over the goal line for her second of the season.

 Froehler doubled the lead on her second of the campaign, only 1:14 into the middle frame, when she roofed the puck in tight in a dominant period for the Pandas.

 Making good use of their first power-play of the stanza, Alberta doubled their shot total from the first period in those two minutes alone, but came up short on the scoreboard to improve their lead even further.

 Fortunately for the home team, they did just that soon after at the 8:20 mark, Helfrich's behind-the-net pass finding Lutz alone in the slot, the former MacEwan Griffin firing it blocker side inside the post on sophomore netminder Hayley Dowling.

 The third goal chased Dowling from the Calgary net, rookie goaltender Carissa Fischer stepping in to face the offensive onslaught as the Pandas outshot Calgary 13-6 in the second period and kept the puck in the Dino end for most of the 20 minutes.

 Calgary got a great chance late, however, on a bench minor by Alberta for too many men, Parent finding herself wide open at the side of the net and ready to cut the lead by one, but the right pad of Lindsey Post desperately reached out to prevent the sure goal before the goalie swallowed up the rebound and keep the game at 3-0.

 Avenging that save in the final frame, Parent netted her 11th of the season 1:13 into the third period when she curved in from the sideboards just inside the Pandas' blueline before effortlessly flicking the puck top shelf to break Post's shutout bid.

 Not to be outdone, the Chelsea, Que. native cemented her second star status in the game ten minutes later when she stoned second-year forward Kate Lumley on a breakaway, just after a Dino penalty expired, to reclaim the game's momentum for the home team.

 On a faceoff following coincidental minors for both teams in the final minutes, Toth tallied an insurance marker with a rising slapshot from the point, going top right to beat Fischer with 2:23 left to go.

 A second bench minor by Alberta gave Calgary a six-on-four chance to sway the momentum going into tomorrow's game, but the Panda defence outworked the Dinos in every puck battle in the waning minutes, finishing the game without even giving up another shot.

 Alberta finished 1-5 on the power-play while Calgary went 0-4.

 The two teams now head south for the second half of the home-and-home series, puck drop going at 6 p.m. MT at Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary.

Source: Rachel Villari, UBC Sports Information Assistant

VANCOUVER -- The No. 9-ranked University of British Columbia Thunderbirds women's hockey team defeated the visiting No. 8 University of Manitoba Bisons 4-3 in a riveting game at The Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre on Friday night. With the victory, UBC (15-1-5-4) moves into second place in the Canada West, one point ahead of Manitoba (13-5-6-1) and three points behind league-leading Alberta.

The game was truly an exhibition of special teams, as UBC scored three out of their four goals on the power play. Manitoba boasts the Canada West's best penalty kill, with only nine goals against this season.

"That was our plan coming into the weekend," head coach Graham Thomas said after UBC's victory. "They're well coached, they're a hot team. We knew we'd have to find ways to drive traffic to the front of the net. We'd knew we'd have to fake and drag shots and find holes, and I think we did that tonight. We pressured the net hard."

The Bisons came out ready to play, scoring a mere two minutes into the game. The puck bounced off the boards behind UBC goaltender Danielle Dube where Bisons forward Tasmine Hemmingway was able to swat it in for their first tally of the night.

Battling back, the Thunderbirds took advantage of their second power play of the night to even the score. Just after Tatiana Rafter hopped the boards, she received a pass as she crossed the blue line and toe-dragged in front of the net, pulling Bisons goalie Rachel Dyck with her. She fired home UBC's first goal, the puck rattling around off the bars behind Dyck. After 20 minutes of play, the game was tied 1-1.

The second was UBC's turn to come out hot, as Rebecca Unrau gave the 'Birds the lead 53 seconds into the period. On the man-advantage again, rookie Logan Boyd won the draw and fed the puck to Unrau, who back-pedaled into the slot, slinging the snapshot past Dyck.

After being held in check for the majority of the second, the Bisons leveled the score while Rafter was in the penalty box. Caitlin Fyten found herself with the puck in the high slot halfway through the period and wristed a quick one past Dube, glove-side. A minute later however, Emily O'Neill stole the lead back for the 'Birds, firing the puck in from the blue line off of a pass from Nikola Brown-John, her eighth assist of the season, giving UBC a 3-2 lead through two periods of play.

UBC entered the final period with 30 seconds remaining on their two-man advantage power play, but were unable to capitalize. Special teams bounced back on the next opportunity, though, when there was a scramble in front of the net off a Dyck rebound. Kathleen Cahoon found the puck first, passing to Boyd who fed the puck to Unrau for her second goal of the game and13th of the season. The goal was scored after Dyck stood on her head saving a barrage of rapid-fire shots from the Thunderbirds in a true display of athleticism.

The Bisons earned one back halfway through the final period as first-year point-producer Alanna Sharman scored off of a pass in front of the net from Alana Serhan. The goal was Sharman's 17th of the season. That is as close as the visitors would come as the 4-3 was the final.

Although the Bisons opened and closed the scoring, the Thunderbirds were able to take advantage of the power play, notching three out of their four goals with the man-advantage. UBC went 3-for-7 while Manitoba was 1-for-3.

"They're a good team," Thomas said. "And we matched their work ethic. We worked hard around the puck and that was crucial to the win. It wasn't a perfectly executed game, but we found a way to win, and that's what good teams do. Tomorrow we're going to have to focus on controlling the full 60 minutes."

The rematch tomorrow is set for 2 p.m. PT at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.