Edwards ends it in overtime on Dinos’ seniors night

Donna Cumming, Dinos Communications

CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos narrowly defeated the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns in a 5-4 overtime win on Friday, February 12 at Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary.

On Dinos senior's night which honoured their graduating players, the game was won by an overtime goal off the stick of fourth year graduating forward, Spencer Edwards.

"It was pretty nice for me to get a goal and contribute in that way," said Edwards. "It hasn't been the best year for me and at times it's been a bit frustrating for us, so I'm just glad that we could get the win and give ourselves a chance at home ice in playoffs."

With the win, the Dinos improve to 12-15 on the season, giving them a chance to get home ice advantage if they get another win tomorrow. The Pronghorns record is now 10-17 with the loss.

Lethbridge opened the scoring just 20 seconds into the game when Ryon Moser fed Brandon Clowes who deked around a Dinos defender and beat Stanford high glove side. Less than a minute later with the Dinos on the penalty kill, Tyler Hansen's point shot deflected off the boards to Justin Valentino who made no mistake, giving the Pronghorns a 2-0 lead 1:11 into the 1st.

"I think we just tried to stay positive and realize that two goals doesn't mean they've won the game and it's not out of reach," explained Edwards.

The Dinos countered on the power play, as Max Ross fed Spencer Edwards who beat Pronghorns goaltender, Damien Ketlo high blocker side. With four minutes remaining in the first period, Chris Collins buried the rebound off of Dylan Walchuk's shot to tie the game at 2-2.

The Dinos took their first lead of the game in the final two minutes of the first. Chris Collins won the face-off back to Cain Franson whose point shot beat the screened Pronghorns' netminder to give the Dinos a 3-2 lead going into the second period.

The Pronghorns tied the game 3-3 midway through the second period as Lethbridge defenseman Brent Henke blew a shot past Stanford for his first goal of the season. Calgary regained the lead 12:56 into the second when a scramble in front of the net led to Franson's second goal of the game. The Dinos held onto a 4-3 lead going into the final frame.

Lethbridge came back to tie it again in the third period. With his team shorthanded, Pronghorns' forward Mitchell Maxwell picked up a loose puck and got a clean breakaway, where he beat Stanford low blocker side to make it 4-4.

The Dinos dominated the overtime period, almost ending it when Danny Gayle's cross-ice pass found Adam Kambeitz. He appeared to have a wide open net, but was robbed when Ketlo reached back and made an outstanding glove save.

With a minute remaining in overtime, Alex Dzielski made a nice pass up to Spencer Edwards, who cut across the Pronghorns' zone and fired a shot past Ketlo to give his team a 5-4 overtime victory.
These two teams will travel to Lethbridge tomorrow to play the second game of their weekend series and the final game of the regular season.

"We really have to play consistently," said Edwards. "For the sake of getting another two points and giving ourselves a chance at home ice, as well as going into playoffs on a positive note. We want to make sure we're playing the game that we want to play, we want to be sharp."

Puck drop is at 7 p.m. MT tomorrow night at Nicholas Sheran Arena in Lethbridge.

-UC-