Cougars sweep home opening weekend

The Assiniboine College women’s hockey team swept their homecoming weekend of the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II season, beating the University of Jamestown in back-to-back one-goal games that were only close on the scoreboard.

The Cougars controlled the Saturday night game from beginning to end, outshooting Jamestown 38-23. That said, the team wasn’t very happy with their first two periods.

“As a team in the first and second, I thought we were looking a little slow; legs a little heavy,” said forward Victoria Mann.

Just 4:19 into the opening frame, Montana Jubenvill grabbed the puck in the neutral zone. She wound her way into the offensive zone before firing a sneaky shot under the arm of Jamestown goaltender Lexie Pirlot.

After allowing the opening goal of the game, Pirlot turned into a brick wall, stopping 18 shots in the period, including a point-blank shot from rookie Karlee Poznecov with five minutes remaining in the frame.

“(It’s) good to get pushed early,” said Cougars head coach Charles Tweed. “That’s obviously a good team … Jamestown; they’re always prepared.”

Jamestown equalized the score just over two minutes into the second period. Sarah Smith found a gap in Rachel Halldorson’s positioning and jammed the puck in at the side of the net.

Shortly after the goal, the Cougars found themselves in penalty trouble, starting with a bench minor that Mann served. Brooke Cyr then took a hooking penalty, giving Jamestown an extended five-on-three power play.

“(The) best penalty killer is usually your goalie, and (Halldorson) made a couple of important saves, and then we leaned on our veterans on defence who played really well positionally and got the puck out,” said Tweed.

Penalties aside, the most interesting moment in the second period came when Alexis Campbell received a breakout pass in her own zone and immediately turned and fired the puck on her own net. Luckily, Halldorson made the save.

“I’ve never made a mistake like that before, and of course, the biggest crowd we’ve had here I make that mistake,” said Campbell with a laugh. “I’ve apologized about 20 times already. I’m so grateful she’s the best goalie I know.”

Assiniboine College turned up the speed in the third period, hemming Jamestown in their own zone and creating high-danger scoring opportunities.

Pirlot continued to frustrate the Cougars, turning away puck after puck until Mann tipped down a point shot by Kylee Emms-Finnsson and tucked home the rebound to take a 2-1 lead with 4:55 remaining in the game.

“It was a beauty of a shot,” said Mann. “It bounced a couple times, the goalie couldn’t get a glove on it, and I booked it to the net and poked it in.”

The bench exploded into cheers.

“We were jumping up and down; we were so loud,” said Campbell. “We’re a family, so we just get so excited for each other, and we are so proud of Victoria for putting that one in.”

The Cougars powered through the remaining five minutes. While they were unable to score an empty-netter, they did keep the puck 200 feet from Halldorson, completing the victory.

On Sunday, the two teams met again, this time with a better feel for one another. It was a rougher affair, with seven penalties doled out between the two teams.

The Cougars once again dominated the shot clock 19-9 in the opening frame. In the second and third periods, they locked down on defence, allowing just five shots on net to finish the game with just 14 shots allowed while racking up 52 on Pirlot, who once again got the start for Jamestown.

The overwhelming dominance on the shot clock did not translate into goals. Heading into the final period, the score was still tied at zero. Abby Dixon broke the deadlock just over five minutes into the third period. Jubenvill — who is having a fantastic start to her second year on the team — was credited with an assist on what was the only goal in the contest.

Assiniboine College won’t take to the ice again until Nov. 6, when they will face North Dakota State University, followed by a matchup against Augustana University on Nov. 7, and the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Nov. 8.

Their next home game won’t take place until Nov. 21 and 22, when they play a back-to-back against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Heading into those contests, the team will continue to focus on improvement.

“We’ve got some things to clean up in our own end, particularly around our own blue-line,” said Tweed.

>>rmcarthy@brandonsun.com