Huskies finally get rewarded

Kaitlin Willoughby celebrates her second period goal for the Huskies.

    It might be a bit of an understatement to say the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team needed to break back into the win column.

    Entering play Friday, the Huskies had won only won one of their last six games, and in the five setbacks, they had the edge in shots on goal. The effort was there, but the goals had dried up as the Dogs only scored eight times over that stretch. What made the losses even more painful was the fact two were by one goal and two were by two goals.

    The biggest challenge facing Huskies head coach Steve Kook and his staff was trying to keep the confidence of their players elevated and make them believe that the goals will come, if they keep their effort up.

    Heading into their home game Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the Huskies, who were no longer rated in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport top ten rankings, faced a huge challenge taking on the University of Alberta Pandas, who are a powerhouse club year in and year out in the Canada West Conference.

    In one of those that’s why they play the games moments, the Huskies pulled out a 2-1 victory in the match that resembled what one might see in the post-season.

    The contest turned out to be a goaltending duel between fourth-year veterans Cassidy Hendricks of the Huskies and Lindsey Post of the Pandas. Hendricks turned way 30 shots, while Post made 27 saves.

Centre Lauren Zary jets up ice for the Huskies.

    Over the opening 20 minutes, the Huskies stormed out of the gates with huge jump and outshot the Pandas 17-5. The hosts had some golden chances, but Post slammed the door shut.

    The Huskies mental toughness was tested even further in the second period. The Pandas responded with a big push back, where they were spending large stretches of time in the U of S zone.

    U of A broke through at the 13:23 mark, when third year forward Ashley Morin deked around a Huskies defender and tucked a smart shot past Hendricks to give the Pandas a 1-0 lead.

    The Huskies were at a point they could have folded, but they kept digging deep and finally started to get rewarded around the net. Just three minutes after the Pandas tally, Huskies winger Kaitlin Willoughby broke into the U of A zone with speed, deked past a Pandas defender and roofed a shot top corner on Post to tie things up at 1-1. The tally energized the home side.

    With 22 seconds to play in the second, Huskies were buzzing in the Pandas zone, and U of S centre Lauren Zary corralled a rebound from a Marley Ervine shot at the side of the U of A net and lifted a backhander home to put the Huskies up 2-1. The normally calm Zary proceeded to leap in the air and then jump into the glass with excitement.

    In the third, the Pandas had the majority of the chances, but the Huskies still had a number of moments where they applied pressure in the offensive zone in search for an insurance goal.

Cassidy Hendricks makes a clutch save late in the game for the Huskies.

    The biggest difference maker down the stretch was Hendricks in goal. With under a minute to play, Pandas standout rookie Alex Poznikoff had an opportunity to score from point blank range, but Hendricks was able to trap the puck between her arm and body.

    The win allowed the Huskies to improve to 13-9-3 to remain fourth in the Canada West standings with three games to play. The Pandas dropped to 13-9-3, but they remained three points ahead of the Huskies due to having three more regulation wins. In Canada West women’s play, teams are awarded three points for a regulation win and two points for an extra time victory.

    Both teams will go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink, and the Huskies should have a little extra boost in confidence from seeing positive results come from their efforts.

Dogs winning streak ends at nine

Huskies goalie Jordon Cooke made 22 stops in Friday's loss in Edmonton.

    It seemed the University of Alberta Golden Bears men’s hockey team wanted to do everything they could to end the winning streak of their forever rivals, and they were successful in doing just that.

    On Friday night in Edmonton, the Golden Bears blanked the U of Saskatchewan Huskies 3-0 before a large gathering of 1,839 spectators at the Clare Drake Arena in a tightly contested match. Jayden Hart tallied for the hosts at the 9:40 mark of the second period to give the Golden Bears a 1-0 edge.

    The Golden Bears potted a couple of power-play goals in the third, with Jordan Rowley scoring at the 45-second mark and Kruise Reddick tallying at the 17:10 mark. Luke Siemens turned away 23 shots to earn the shutout in goal for U of A.

    Jordon Cooke stopped 22 shots taking the loss in net for the Huskies, who saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end. U of S was 11-0 on the road this season before falling to the Golden Bears on Friday night. The Huskies, who are rated first in the CIS top ten rankings, fell to 21-4, but they entered play Friday having first place in the Canada West Conference all locked up.

    The Golden Bears, who are rated seventh in the CIS top ten rankings, improved to 16-7-2 and sit a point behind the Mount Royal University Cougars (16-6-3) for second in Canada West.

    The Huskies and Golden Bears go at it again on Saturday at the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.

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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.