Vance continues mastery of T-Birds in shutout win
Huskies goalie blanks UBC for third time this season to open semifinal showdown
Jessica Vance has their number.
Chalk up another shutout victory for the University of Saskatchewan goalie over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.
The second-year Huskie goalie made 22 saves to record her 10th shutout of the season — and third against UBC — as Saskatchewan blanked the visiting T-Birds 2-0 Friday afternoon to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three Canada West conference semifinal series at Rutherford Rink.
Game 2 goes today at 1:30 p.m. A third game, if necessary, would be played Sunday, also at 1:30 p.m.
While a win is good, a shutout is always sweeter.
“It’s always nice to not allow any goals in,” said Vance, a native of Prince Albert.
“Kudos to my defence, too. All my shutouts, they ’ve kept the teams to minimal shots so it’s been good.
“It feels good. My confidence is up there, so I’m seeing (the puck) pretty well.”
Brooklyn Haubrich, at 14:38 of the first period, and Kira Bannatyne, at 10:06 of the third, scored for Saskatchewan, which out-shot UBC 32-22.
“We know (Saturday) is going to be a strong push,” said U of S head coach Steve Kook. “They’ve got a ton of experience over there, being at nationals the last two times and two-time defending (Canada West) champions. We’re going to have to weather their storm for the first little bit (Saturday) and make sure we stick to our game and not give pucks away too much.”
Haubrich’s goal proved to be the game winner and was especially satisfactory after she struggled offensively during the regular season.
“This one feels awesome,” she said of the win. “It’s a good way to start our playoffs”
Saskatchewan swept four games from UBC during the regular season, with two of them being shutout victories by Vance.
“We knew that the first 10 minutes would be a bit of a whirlwind and I thought we handled that pretty good, calmed down and started playing our game a little bit,” said Kook.
“Our last five minutes were outstanding. We just played with a lot of composure and I thought that was the difference maker for us. They could have easily got one there and turned the tide with about four minutes.”
A trip to nationals is on the line as the two Canada West finalists will both earn berths in this year’s U Sports national women’s hockey championship tournament March 15-18 in London, Ont.
MEN’S HOCKEY
Canada West first-team all-star goalie Jordon Cooke arrived Friday at Rutherford Rink on crutches with a lower-body injury following an early first-period collision in Thursday ’s opening game of the Canada West semifinal series.
Cooke was injured at the 6:59 mark of Game 1 and replaced by rookie backup Taran Kozun.
Kozun got the starting nod in Game 2, which was still underway at press time on Friday.
Former Estevan Bruins goalie Brett Lewchuk, a Saskatoon product, was called up on an emergency basis.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The Trinity Western University Spartans have forced a third and deciding game with the host U of S Huskies in their best-of-three Canada West women’s basketball semifinal at the PAC.
On Friday night, Trinity Western defeated Saskatchewan 67-60 to knot the series at one game apiece. Game 3 will be played Saturday at 7 p.m. at the PAC.
The Spartans out-scored the Huskies 23-9 in the third quarter to take a 52-44 lead and eventually led by as many as 11 points before Saskatchewan mounted a comeback attempt late in the fourth.
Sabine Dukate had 14 points to lead the Huskies, who hit 35.9 per cent of their field goal attempts. Brianna Fehr added 10 points. Libby Epoch chipped in with nine points. Summer Masikewich had eight points and nine rebounds. Maya Olynyk contributed 10 rebounds and five points.
Kianna Wiens scored 18 points for the Spartans, who shot 34.8 per cent and hit nine of 22 three-point attempts for a 40.9 per cent clip. Kayla Gordon added 17 points for TWU.
Jessie Brown and Tessa Ratzlaff had 10 points apiece for the Spartans, who held a 28-25 advantage in rebounding.