Thunderbirds slip past Huskies 2-1 after tiebreaking shootout

Kara Kondrat, left, makes a pass in the offensive zone.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey Team went stride for stride with the top team in the Canada West Conference but just couldn’t get the win.

On Friday night at Merlis Belsher place, the Huskies played the Canada West leading University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to a 1-1 draw through regulation and a three-on-three overtime period forcing the U Sports regular season contest to go to a tiebreaking shootout. In the shootout, Thunderbirds standout right-winger Chanreet Bassi scored the only goal in the tiebreaking session coming in the fourth round to give her side a 2-1 overall victory in the game played in front of 300 spectators.

Elise Hugens made 24 saves for 65 minutes for the Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, improved to 11-0-1-1 with the win. The Huskies, who are rated 10 in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, saw their record move to 8-3-1-1.

“It was as advertised,” said Huskies head coach Steve Kook. “It was physical.

“It was fast. I thought we played the right way. We were trying to get pressure, and I thought we did that.

“I thought our young ‘D’ played well again against a team that put a lot of pressure on our D-zone. Our kill did a heck of a job.”

Camryn Drever made 37 saves over 65 minutes for the Huskies.

The two sides played a fairly structured and tight checking game. Through the structure, both sides would have momentum surges that were turned away by the goalies on each side.

Huskies all-world netminder Camryn Drever made 37 saves through regulation and overtime, and she turned away three-of-four shooters in the shootout. She turned away shots that came in on goal off deflections and somehow found pucks that came in through screens in front of the net.

Thunderbirds netminder Elise Hugens made 24 saves through regulation and overtime, and she turned away all four shooters she faced in the shootout. She made her fair share of difficult saves too.

Mackenzie Kordic scored in regulation for the Thunderbirds.

The two sides played through a scoreless tie over the first 40 minutes of the contest.

Just 34 seconds into the third, the Thunderbirds broke though on the scoreboard as second-year right-winger Mackenzie Kordic potted her 10th goal of the season. Kordic drove down the right wing, cut to the right faceoff dot and snapped a shot past Drever to give the Thunderbirds a 1-0 edge.

The lead didn’t last as the Huskies pulled even at 1-1 just over six minutes later. While working on the power play, Huskies left-winger Sophie Lalor fed a pass to defender Isabella Pozzi. Pozzi one-timed a rocket shot to the top left corner of the Thunderbirds net for the equalizer.

Isabella Pozzi scored on the power play in regulation for the Huskies.

The Huskies went 1-for-5 on the power play in the contest, while the Thunderbirds failed to score on five power-play opportunities.

Kook said Drever was outstanding on Friday night, and he was impressed with his team’s work on the penalty kill. The bench boss said his netminder is driven to stop everything.

“Cam (Drever) red all of those cross ice and even that one that went the other way for the one-timer,” said Kook. “Cam feels bad about the loss right now.

“Her and the kill were the stars of the game for us.”

Sophie Lalor fires a shot on goal for the Huskies.

With standout veteran defender Brooklyn Stevely out due to injury, the Huskies went with a younger look on defence. Rookies Jacquelyne Chief and Makenna Stevens dressed as one pair.

Sophomore Shelby Williamson and third-year McKenna Bolger made up another defensive pair. Pozzi, who is in her fifth year, and Kendra Zuchotzki, who is in her third year, were the veteran pair on the back end.

Kook is showing faith in the youngsters too. When the Thunderbirds went on a power play in overtime, Chief was sent out to start the penalty kill on the four-on-three situation.

“I think for me, my nerves definitely like come up a bit,” said Chief. “When we’re like in overtime, it is like, ‘OK, go kill.’

Huskies D Jacquelyne Chief, left, battles UBC LW Cassidy Rhodes.

“I’m like, ‘You want me out there?’ It is kind of a surprise. I feel like since they have that trust in me I just have to live up to it.

“I think I do my part.”

The Thunderbirds had scoring chances, but the Huskies were able to come away with a successful kill.

After the kill, the Huskies got momentum. Near the end of the overtime frame, Lalor and Pozzi both had prime scoring chances, but they were turned away by Hugens.

Huskies third-year centre Mallory Dyer had a chance in close for a buzzer beater, but she drove the puck over top of the net.

Jasper Desmarais circles in the offensive zone with the puck.

In the shootout, Bassi put on a few fakes in her approach to the net before firing home the winner.

The two sides go at it again on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place. Kook said he offered encouragement to his squad looking ahead to Saturday’s encounter.

“I said we played the right way,” said Kook. “Our job right now is to make sure that we get our nutrition and do the right things, so that we are ready to go tomorrow.

The Thunderbirds celebrate their shootout victory.

“That is the beauty of this league. You get another kick at it. We played the right way.

“If we do this again tomorrow, I’d be happy with our effort.”

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