Men’s hockeysaurs take a beating at home

By Alyzee Sibtain

Home ice proved not to be an advantage during the University of Calgary men’s hockeysaurs two-game homestand Oct. 26 and 27. The Dinos wrapped up their last series before taking to the road for the next five games with two losses to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. The series opener saw the Dinos lose a hard-fought battle in 2-5 disappointment and the another defeat with a 4-5 overtime loss the following night.

Friday night’s game saw a strong Dino effort in the opening period as the hockeysaurs hammered T-Bird netminder Gerry Festa with 17 shots to the T-Birds’ measly three attempts. Dino Teegan Moore drew first blood with a late goal in the first, though the score could have been much worse for the T-Birds. Dino Torrie Wheat’s goal earlier in the period was waved off, but Moore’s goal was indicative of the Dinos’ early dominance.

The second period, however, was a different story. The T-Birds, who Festa pushed through the game, scored two goals less than a minute apart midway through the middle frame. One of their own goals was also disallowed, but the Dinos suddenly found their lead erased and were now down a goal. A late 5-on-3 goal by T-Bird Darrel May put his team up 3-1, and the Dinos were now faced with 20 minutes to give themselves a chance to win the game in which they had put tremendous effort.

Dino Barry Horman gave his team some life with a late goal in the third, but that was as close as the Dinos would come. The hockeysaurs heavily outshot their West Coast opponents throughout, peppering Festa with 39 shots. However, he was just too much for the Dinos’ offence to overcome and a couple late third-period empty-net goals by the T-Birds sent the hockeysaurs into Sat. night’s game full of determination to turn things around in their favour.

Saturday’s contest saw the same early dominance, but this time by the visiting team. The Dinos didn’t tally their first shot on goal until 11:09 into the period, shortly after which T-Bird Andrew Wasmuth put his team ahead with a 1-0 lead. The hockeysaurs answered quickly, with Dino Jevon Desautels capitalizing on a 5-on-3 resulting from T-Birds Jovan Matic’s slashing and Ashley Todd’s elbowing penalties.

Scoring thereafter was a back-and-forth affair with Ryan Annesley and Reid Jorgensen scoring for the Dinos. Hockeysaur Paul Gentile finally broke the trend with an even-strength goal early in the third period to put his team ahead 4-3, but T-Bird Craig Lineker erased only a minute later. Overtime solved nothing and May finished off the Dinos in a nail-biting shoot-out that saw Annesley miss the team’s second attempt after his brother Kyle Annesley’s successful shot. Marc Desloges and Curtis Billsten were also able to convert for the T-Birds, foiling the Dinos further leaving them with a loss.

With the weekend’s disappointments, the 1-4-3 Dinos fall to second-last place in the Canada West, leading the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns by a single point. The hockeysaurs have a bye week before heading east to take on the University of Regina Cougars, whom they beat 2-0 in pre-season action. Hopefully a little downtime can help the Dinos hockeysaurs shake their losing ways and get back into the win column.