Huskies find ways to win early

U of S women’s hockey team overcomes tough opening games

Pandas F Autumn MacDougall is stopped by Huskies G Cassidy Hendricks.

    Coming out of the gate, it appeared the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team was facing a murderous schedule.

    In their first four games, the Huskies had to hit the road to take on the defending Canada West champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds twice, and then they returned home to host the University of Alberta Pandas, who are always a conference powerhouse, twice. On paper, a split in each series would be considered a great success for the Huskies.

    There was also a realistic chance the Huskies could play well and still come out of that stretch without a win.

Kaitlin Willoughby netted the shootout winner for the Huskies.

    Under first year head coach Robin Ulrich, the Huskies weren’t phased by the early challenge. After dropping their regular season opener 4-0 in Vancouver to the Thunderbirds on Oct. 7, the Huskies have rolled off three straight wins.

    After falling to the Thunderbirds, the Dogs rebounded the next night downing UBC 5-3, which ended a streak where the Thunderbirds had won eight straight meetings between the two squads.

    On Friday, the Huskies opened their home schedule at the ancient Rutherford Rink with a 2-1 double overtime victory over the Pandas. Offensive defender Leah Bohlken blew home the winner on the power play on a perfect backdoor feed from star winger Kaitlin Willoughby.

    On Saturday at Rutherford, the Huskies completed the sweep of the Pandas pulling out a 2-1 victory after a tiebreaking shootout. Willoughby was the first shooter up in the shootout and netted a beauty goal on a deke that totally fooled Pandas goaltender Dayna Owen.

    That turned out to be the only tally in the tiebreaking session. Veteran Huskies goalie Cassidy Hendricks slammed the door on the three Pandas shooters she faced to deliver her side to victory.

Rachel Lundberg (#15) celebrates her short-handed goal.

    When you play tough opponents like the Thunderbirds and Pandas, who were rated eighth in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport top 10 rankings, the key is to just to find a way to win. That is what the Huskies have done, and Saturday’s game provided the perfect example of just finding a way to get to right side of the scoreboard.

    The Huskies weren’t always at their best. Had it not been for the stellar play of Hendricks, who made 29 stops through regulation and 10 minutes of overtime play, the Huskies wouldn’t have pulled out a sweep.

    The Pandas had the Huskies pinned in their own zone for much of the first period, and at one point, the visitors had a 9-1 edge in shots on goal. U of A was winning every race for loose pucks and taking what seemed like every physical battle for the puck.

    Hendricks was under siege, but the fifth-year standout from North Vancouver played with a trademark calm that has defined her whole university career. She was going to hold her team in the game until her teammates could find some traction.

    When the first 20 minutes ended, the Pandas had outshot the Huskies 16-7. The visitors could have had at least a three-goal edge on the scoreboard, but the two sides were locked in a 0-0 draw.

Rookie Kayla Kirwan has been solid for the Huskies. 

    The hosts found the traction they were looking for early in the second. While on the penalty kill, fifth year defender Alyssa Dobler sprung hard-working second-year forward Rachel Lundberg on a breakaway.

    Lundberg broke into the Pandas zone, wired her first shot off the post, collected the rebound and beat Owen to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. The Dogs found their skating legs, and they played fairly even for the rest of the contest with the Pandas.

    In the third, the Huskies ran into some penalty trouble, which allowed the Pandas to pull even. Playing with a two-person advantage, Pandas sophomore forward Autumn MacDougall buried her second of the season to tie things up at 1-1 shortly before the seven minute mark.

    Before going to overtime, the Pandas had a glorious chance to pull ahead. Third-year forward Amy Boucher found herself on a breakaway late in the third, but she fired a shot wide of the goal.

    During the second five-minute overtime period, Owen had to make a big save on Willoughby, when the Huskies were pressing with all sorts of pressure around the U of A net.

    That set the stage for the shootout, where Willoughby made no mistake in potting the only goal in the tiebreaking session to give her team the win. The Huskies improved to 3-1 as a result.

The Huskies celebrate their shootout victory against the Pandas.

    Owen turned away 22 shots over 70 minutes and two of the three shooters she faced in the shootout as the Pandas record moved to 2-0-2.
    Besides getting clutch contributions from their veterans, the Huskies have also received strong performances from rookie defender Kayla Kirwan and rookie forward Emily Upgang.

    After three big wins in a row, the Huskies now encounter their next challenge, when they hit the road to Lethbridge for two trap style games this coming Friday and Saturday against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns. The Pronghorns are 1-3, but they have always found a way to give the Huskies difficulties.

    For the moment, the Huskies can take pride in their surprising good start. In the back of their minds, they have to ensure they don’t get too high, so they can focus on their next challenge and keep finding ways to win.

Bauml bashes Bears with hat trick

Kohl Bauml had a hat trick to lead the Huskies to a big road win.

    Kohl Bauml put the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team on his back to power them to a huge road victory in Edmonton.

    On Saturday, Bauml fired home a hat trick to lead the defending Canada West champs past the U of Alberta Golden Bears with a 4-2 victory at the Clare Drake Arena. Bauml’s third goal broke a 2-2 tie just 55 seconds into the third period.

    Huskies captain Kendall McFaull added a big insurance marker just past the midway point of the third to cement a two-goal victory. Goaltender Jordon Cooke made 32 saves to give the Dogs a split in their weekend series with their forever rivals. The Bears picked up a 3-2 double overtime victory on Friday.

    In Saturday’s encounter, Jayden Hart and Cole Linaker had singles for the Bears, while netminder Kenny Cameron turned away 24 shots taking the loss in goal.

    With Saturday’s win, the Huskies, who are rated third in the CIS top 10 rankings, improved to 3-0-1. The Bears, who are rated fourth in the CIS top 10 rankings, fell to 1-1.

    The Huskies return to action this coming Friday and Saturday when they host the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns (1-1) at 7 p.m. on both nights at the Rutherford Rink.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Sequel not in cards for Huskies

Huskies goalie Jordon Cooke makes one of his 51 stops in a loss to U of A.

    Jordon Cooke was a little bit too busy time around.

    On Friday night, the sophomore netminder made 44 saves to help his University of Saskatchewan Huskies steal a 3-2 victory over the visiting University of Alberta Golden Bears at the ancient Rutherford Rink. The Huskies netted their three goals off of 25 shots.

    On Saturday night at the Ruthy, the Huskies tried to lean on Cooke again to come up with a steal. The Leduc product did everything he could, but the Golden Bears managed to mount more pressure and chances at the U of Saskatchewan net than they did one night earlier.

    When the dust settled, Cooke made an incredible 51 stops, but the Golden Bears skated away with a 4-2 victory improving to 5-2-1. The Huskies, who lost their first regular season match to fall to 7-1, mustered 22 shots at the U of A net.

    Cooke had to stand on his head almost from the opening puck drop against the two time defending Canadian Interuniversity Sport champions. The visitors busted through on their 14^th shot, when defenceman Jordan Rowley popped a power-play goal at the 12:19 mark of the opening frame.

Golden Bears goalie Luke Siemens was pretty much a spectator over the first 20 minutes, as his side held a 20-4 edge in shots on goal.

Jordan Rowley scored twice in a winning effort for the Golden Bears.

    U of A went up 2-0, when sophomore forward Stephane Legault scored unassisted just 56 seconds into the second frame.

    The Huskies pulled to within 2-1, when Jesse Ross scored at the 6:27 mark of the second. Ross’s goal was just the ninth shot on net for the Huskies.

    The goal didn’t slow the Golden Bears momentum.

    Before the second ended, the visitors scored two goals just 86 second apart from each other to go up 4-1. Rookie forward Jayden Hart fired home his third of the season, and on the power play, Jordan Hickmott and Levko Koper combined to set up Rowley down low on a tick-tack-toe passing play for his second of the game.

    The Huskies tried to stage a rally in the third. Ross picked up his second of the contest at the 5:46 mark to cut the gap to 4-2, and rookie forward Kohl Bauml was unable to score on a couple of breakaway chances.

    While the Golden Bears were unable to score in the third, they controlled play outshooting the Huskies 20-4 in the frame. Siemens made 20 saves to earn the win in goal for the visitors.

Cooke turned back chance after chance to give his side life, but the Huskies skaters weren’t able to find an extra gear and were often trapped in their own zone.

    After three straight home games, the Huskies hit the road to Calgary to face the Mount Royal University Cougars (4-2-2) this coming Friday and Saturday.

Pandas overpowering in rematch

Leah Bohlken had the lone goal in a Huskies setback.

    The U of Saskatchewan women’s hockey team saw their four game winning streak come to an end at the hands of a determined host U of Alberta Pandas squad.

    On Saturday night in Edmonton, the visiting Huskies jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period, when rookie defender Leah Bohlken netted her second tally of the season. From that point onward, it was all Pandas as far as the scoring was concerned.

    The Pandas responded with five unanswered goals to skate away with a 5-1 victory. They scored three times before the first frame ended, and they added two more tallies in the third.

    Alex Poznikoff scored twice for the Pandas, who received singles from Sasha Lutz, Amy Helfrich and Erinn Baddock. Dayna Owen made 14 stops to earn the win in goal for the Pandas (5-4-1).

    Cassidy Hendricks made 31 stops taking the loss in goal for the Huskies (7-2-1).

    One night earlier, Hendricks stole a victory for the Huskies making 28 saves in regulation and turning away all three shooter she faced in a tiebreaking shootout to power the Huskies to a 3-2 win over the Pandas. U of S had just 10 shots on goal in regulation and overtime in that contest.

    The Huskies women’s team now enjoys a bye week before returning to action on Nov. 13, when they travel to Vancouver to face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (6-3-1).

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this blog post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. To see more game photos, check Twitter @StanksSports.