Box Score Box Score

Jennifer Schmidt (pictured) had a 17-save shutout as the University of Regina's women's hockey team recorded a 3-0 victory over Alberta on Friday night in Canada West action at The Co-operators Centre.

Paige Wheeler opened the scoring seven minutes into the second period. Rianne Wight added another goal for the Cougars midway through the third before Kendra Finch iced the win with a late empty netter.

The victory improves Regina's record to 16-7-2 on the year, setting a program record for most conference wins by a U of R team in a single season.

“We played a hard 60 minutes as a team and that was the difference tonight,” Cougars head coach Sarah Hodges said. “We were solid defensively all game long and I thought we managed the puck well. It's a great team win and I'm hoping for a similar effort tomorrow night.”

The opening period featured few whistles and was likely one of the quickest 20 minutes ever played at The Co-operators Centre. The best chance of the first came when Alberta's top line of Karla Bourke, Monika Moskalski, and Jessica Kampjes broke in on a rush but Schmidt made the initial save off Moskalski and then denied Bourke on the rebound to keep the Pandas off the board. The two teams combined for just nine shots in the first, with Alberta registering five of them.

Schmidt made a nice save early in the second after Alberta forced a turnover deep in the offensive zone. Fifth-year forward Meg Omand had a nice opportunity from the slot, but Schmidt made another save to preserve the tie.

Wheeler's goal past the seven-minute mark of the second period opened the scoring. After breaking in on the left, Wheeler made a nice move to get into shooting position in the slot. Her first shot was saved by Alberta goalie Michala Jeffries, but Wheeler collected her own rebound and tucked home her 11th of the season.

The Cougars held a 9-4 advantage in the shot department in the middle frame, with Alberta totalling just nine shots through 40 minutes.

Wheeler had a great opportunity to put the Cougars up two just past the two-minute mark of the third, but Jeffries made a fine glove save to deny the fifth-year forward her second of the game. The Cougars did manage to add to the lead just shy of the midway mark of the third period when Wight stepped up and whistled a wrist shot over Jeffries' glove from just inside the left circle to give the U of R a two-goal cushion.

Finch's empty netter with 16 seconds left sealed the win for the Cougars. Wheeler assisted on Finch's goal, giving the fifth-year forward a two-point night.

Jeffries ended up stopping 20 of 22 shots sent her way for the Pandas, who were outshot 23-17 by Regina. Both teams were 0-for-3 on the power play.

The two teams will meet again at The Co-operators Centre on Saturday. The Cougars can clinch second place in the Canada West standings and a bye to the conference semifinals with another win on Saturday coupled with a UBC regulation loss to Manitoba on either Friday or Saturday.

NOTES: The U of R's old record for most Canada West wins in a season was set back during the 2006-07 campaign, when the Cougars had a 15-7-2 conference record ... Schmidt's shutout was the third of her two-season career at the University of Regina.