CALGARY - In their last game before the holiday break, the No. 2 ranked Manitoba Bisons got an important 3-2 road win over Calgary at the Father David Bauer Arena.
The win secures a sweep of the Dinos, as the Bisons have now won nine of their last 11 games.
It was a slow start to the game, seeing a continuous loop of dump and chase plays from both sides.Â
It took three minutes of play before the first shot of the game was even registered. The first, despite the lengthy amount of time, proved to be effective as unlike last night, it was the Dinos who struck first. Chelsea Court found some space in front of the net and potted her first goal of the season over the left shoulder of Erin Fargey to put the Dinos out to a 1-0 lead.
A Dinos slashing penalty midway through the first gave Manitoba a chance to on a weak Dinos penalty kill. Halfway through the powerplay the Bisons would get their equalizer coming from a Jordyn Zacharias wrister, being left all alone in front of the Dinos cage.
The second frame didn't see much action between the two sides other than a shorthanded goal off a breakaway from Lauryn Keen, rocketing one past the glove of Wasylyk. Keen had four goals on the weekend after a hat trick in last night's game.
The Dinos couldn't find much life in the second other than a chance towards the end of the period that saw a two-on-one just fanned on by Diane Hitchings in an attempt to bring the game back level.
Despite a couple solid saves from Wasylyk from Manitoba odd man rushes, the Bisons were finally able to solve her in the third on a goal from Kaitlyn Chatyrbok, scoring the first goal of her U SPORTS career.Â
It didn't take long for Calgary to close the gap as Carly Wlad found twine in the top right corner with five minutes left in regulation to pick up her first point of the season and make it a 3-2 game.
A late pulled goaltender from the Dinos saw a good push but to no prevail as they dropped their second last game on the 2018 calendar.Â
"I thought we started quite strong," said Dinos assistant coach Alison Goodman of her team's efforts on Saturday. "But unfortunately we took some penalties and they capitalized."
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The Dinos aren't quite done the first half of the year as they will head to Edmonton on Sunday for a make-up game with the Alberta Pandas. The Bisons, however, will head into the winter break after a solid start to the season. Canada West play will resume on January 4, 2019.
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