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| Marley Ervine, right, celebrates scoring a goal for the Huskies. |
It seemed like everything Marley Ervine touched turned to
gold for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team.
The feisty fifth-year forward had a goal and three assists
to power the Huskies to a 5-3 victory over the University of Regina Cougars on
Friday night at the Rutherford Rink. The Kindersley product is well known for getting
in the dirty areas and mixing things up physically against opponents, who are
usually bigger than she is. Those battles have also included a little bit of
trash talking.
With the Huskies missing Kaitlin Willoughby, their leading
scorer from last season, with an undisclosed injury, Ervine ended up being in
the right place at the right time in what was a 1980s offensive style of game.
In the opening 20 minutes, the Huskie jumped out to a 1-0
lead, when right-winger Hailey Tyndall fired home a shot that went between the
legs of Cougars defender Jolene Kirkpatrick to bulge the twine. With the
Huskies working on the power play later on in the frame, Ervine picked up her
first helper, when rookie defender Leah Bohlken fired home a shot through a
screen to net her first career Canadian Interuniversity Sport regular season
goal.
The hosts expanded their edge to 3-0 at the 6:12 mark of the
second, when Ervine and rookie centre Elizabeth Salyn combined to set up Rachel
Johnson for her third goal of the season.
Just when it looked the Huskies were going to run away with
things, the Cougars came to life scoring two goals 39 second apart just past
the midway point of the second to cut the Huskies lead to 3-2. First,
fourth-year veteran Meghan Sherven batted home a close in rebound chance on the
power play and Bailey Braden quickly followed up with an even strength marker.
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| Marley Ervine speeds down the left wing for the Huskies. |
Working again on the power play, the Huskies jumped back
ahead 4-2, when Ervine got the puck to the point to offensive defender Julia
Flinton who slipped home a seeing-eye shot for her first goal of the season.
A short time after that tally, the Cougars pulled staring
rookie goalie Jane Kish, who turned away 16-of-20 shots fired her way. Toni
Ross went in with 5:39 to play in the second, and she turned away 10-11 shots
in relief.
Just under a minute after entering the contest, Ross was
beaten on a good individual effort by Ervine to give the Huskies a 5-2 edge.
Before the second ended, the Cougars cut the gap to 5-3,
when sophomore forward Caitlin Dempsey tucked a shot over the shoulder of
Huskies goaltender Cassidy Hendricks on a penalty shot. Hendricks was solid
overall on Friday making 33 saves to improve her Huskies career regular season
wins record to 37.
With the victory, the Huskies improved to 5-1-1, while the
Cougars fell to 4-3.
The two teams meet again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators
Centre in Regina.
NOTES – Huskies third
year veteran forward Kori Herner left Friday’s game in the second period with
an injury. The injury bug has taken a big bite out of the Cougars in the early
part of the season. They played with only 15 skaters on Friday, and among their
missing was their leading scorer from a season ago in Kylie Gavelin and fourth
year veteran defender Krista Metz.
Huskies defender Alyssa Dobler played in her 105th consecutive career game for the Huskies including regular season, playoffs and the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship tournament.
The fourth-year veteran has never missed a game in her career. Dobler had
received a major penalty and a game misconduct for a checking from behind
infraction in Huskies 3-1 road victory over the University of Lethbridge
Pronghorns last Saturday, but no suspension resulted from that play.
The Huskies are rated 10th in the CIS’s top ten
rankings.
Smuk game up for Huskies men’s team
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| The Huskies men's hockey team take warm-ups wearing Cody Smuk jerseys. |
The late Cody Smuk exemplified the phrase, “No one outworks
the Dogs,” and it is only fitting his memory will be front and centre for a
pre-game tribute.
On Saturday, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey
team will retire Smuk’s #24 jersey before their 7 p.m. clash with the
University of Regina Cougars at the Rutherford Rink. This will mark the first
time the Huskies have retired a number.
Smuk played four seasons for the Huskies from 2010 to 2014
collecting six goals and 14 assists in 89 regular season games. He was best
known for his gritty and hard-working style of play, as well as being the
perfect glue guy teammate in the dressing room. The hard-hitting forward, who
played in the WHL with the Chilliwack Bruins, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Moose
Jaw Warriors, passed away after a battle with cancer that lasted over a year in
June at the age of 26.
One of the walls at the Rutherford Rink contains a big banner
with Smuk’s picture that reads, “We all play the Cody Smuk way.”
Before taking the ice for games, all the members of the
Huskies men’s team have been wearing #24 Smuk jerseys during warm-ups in
tribute of Smuk. That practice is expected to last for the whole season, and it
will be repeated before Saturday’s game.
Smuk's parents, father Marty and mother Darla, and his financee, Stephanie Vause, will take part in the pre-game ceremony.
Smuk's parents, father Marty and mother Darla, and his financee, Stephanie Vause, will take part in the pre-game ceremony.
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| The Cody Smuk banner that hangs at the Rutherford Rink. |
On the ice on Friday, the Huskies, who are rated fourth in
the CIS’s top ten rankings, improved to 5-0 downing the Cougars in Regina 3-1.
Sean Aschim, Zak Stebner and Logan McVeigh all netted
singles for the Huskies. Trent Lofthouse replied for the Cougars, who fell to
1-4.
Blake Voth made 36 saves to earn the win in goal in his
first start of the season for the Huskies. Dawson MacAuley turned away 27 shots
taking the loss in the Cougars net.
