QUICKLY
Kaylee Dyer's overtime goal lifted the University of Regina's women's hockey team to a 2-1 victory over Saskatchewan on Friday night in both teams' Canada West season opener at The Co-operators Centre in Regina.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The two teams opened up tentatively. The opening 20 minutes was scoreless with the Cougars enjoying the majority of the chances, outshooting Saskatchewan by an 11-4 margin in the first.
• Saskatchewan opened up the scoring early in the second on its fourth power play of the game. Jayde Cadieux fed the puck down low to Kahlen Wisener, who shot from a sharp angle and bounced it in off Cougar goalie Natalie Williamson's skate.
• The score stayed 1-0 in favour of Saskatchewan until just past the midway point of the third period. Pippy Pritchard knocked the puck away from a Saskatchewan player in the Huskies' zone and it went right to Shaylee Scraba, who turned and fired a shot to the top corner and tied it up at 1-1.
• The two teams went to overtime, but not before some late chances for both teams. Saskatchewan had to kill off a late Jessica Patterson holding minor, and Regina barely survived a tip-in attempt by Kaysah Nurani at the side of the net with under a second remaining.
• Dyer, who had been dangerous all night for the Cougars, ended the game with her winning goal 3:37 into the well-played extra session. The play started when Lauren Focht got away from her check on the boards and walked in all alone on Saskatchewan goalie Colby Wilson. Wilson saved Focht's initial attempt and the puck went right to Megan Long, who stepped into a snap shot from the high slot. Long's shot was also stopped, but Dyer was right there to knock in the rebound.

QUOTABLE
"I'm very happy for our team. They have worked very hard and have focused on their habits, and they're starting to believe they can win. Tonight they used their speed both with and without the puck. Jules Stokes brought a lot of confidence as a new player and made a big difference and Natalie Williamson came up with several fabulous saves. Dyer was a strong presence all night and deserved to be the one who put the final puck in the net." - Cougars interim head coach Brandy West-McMaster

NOTES

• Williamson stopped 25 of Saskatchewan's 26 shots to register the win.
• Dyer's goal was the fourth-year forward's first Canada West game-winning goal.
• The Cougars had a 36-26 advantage in shots.
• Saskatchewan was 1-for-6 on the power play while the Cougars were 0-for-5.
• Quinn Sutherland, Stokes, Meg Farmer, Maggie Kate Fitzpatrick, Pritchard, and Cassidy Peters all made their Canada West debuts on Friday night in the win.

NEXT UP
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night in Saskatoon. Game time is set for 7:00 PM at Merlis Belsher Place.

 

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