Box Score CALGARY – The MRU Cougars women's hockey team got back in the win column with a 2-1 win on Saturday, defeating the University of Calgary Dinos in the second game of this weekend's Crowchild Classic.

After a 3-1 loss on Friday, the Cougars turned to netminder Kaitlyn Ross for Saturday's rematch. The Dinos stuck with Amelia Awad who has assumed the starting goaltender position following longtime starter Gabrielle Durante's departure to play professionally in Italy. Awad made 21 saves in the Dinos' weekend opening win on Friday.

Mount Royal went to work on a powerplay midway through the first and applied sustained pressure on the Dinos. However, Calgary was getting in the way of almost every shot the Cougars took and would not allow the puck to reach the net.

Dinos' centre April Klarenbach gave her team the period's best scoring chance when she barely missed a point-blank shot from the low slot while on the powerplay. MRU's league-best penalty successfully stifled Calgary's advantage, keeping the game scoreless through 20 minutes.

Early in the second, MRU captain Lyndsey Janes skillfully stole the puck from Calgary defender Brooklin Fry at the blueline. Janes propelled herself to a breakaway and attempted to deke Amelia Awad but the Dinos netminder held strong and kept the game tied at zero. 

"I had a ton of speed so I didn't have much time to think about what I was going to do," said Janes. "I tried to fake [Awad] but I didn't fake her good enough."

Shortly after the near chance, the Cougars finally broke the deadlock. Lyvia Butz gathered the puck behind the Calgary net and fed a pass to Jordyn Hutt who was positioned at the bottom of the faceoff circle. Hutt fired a low shot the squeaked through the pads of Awad and trickled across the line.

Butz scored her first Canada West goal on Friday and made another impactful play to get the Cougars on the board first in Saturday's tilt. In just three games, the rookie has shown that she has the potential to be a solid university hockey player.

Hutt's goal would stand as the lone marker heading into the second intermission. Offence was hard to come by as both the Dinos and Cougars only registered 10 shots on goal each.

Five minutes into the final frame, the Dinos knotted things up at one. In a play that looked very similar to Mount Royal's goal, Calgary winger Solana Cooper whipped a pass across the centre of the ice a wide open Caitlyn Perlinger. The blueliner one-timed a shot low and hard, beating Kaitlyn Ross to even the score.

The Cougars were determined to regain the lead and five minutes after Perlinger tied it up for the Dinos, MRU took back the momentum.

After being stopped on a breakaway earlier in the game, Lyndsey Janes found the back of the net. A Dinos defensive breakdown gave Janes an abundance of time and space, allowing her to shoot one past the glove of Awad.

"All week at practice we have been working on our zone entries and making sure we were driving the net hard," explained Janes. "That's what we did on that play … it worked out pretty well."

A long time Cougar and an integral part of 2023's national championship winning team, Janes continued to cement herself in program history after playing her 100th career game on Friday and capping off the weekend with the game-winning goal.

Calgary was awarded two late powerplays but were unable to convert as the Mount Royal's defence stayed strong and held on for the hard fought win.

The victory moves MRU to a 5-1 record while the Dinos fall to 3-2-1.

Next weekend, the Cougars will host the University of Saskatchewan Huskies for a pair of games at Flames Community Arenas. Tickets can be purchased online and fans can stream the games live on Canada West TV.