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.
Boxscore
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.
