Dinos lack confidence

By Sean Nyilassy

With a six-pack of games under their jerseys, it looks like the Dinos women’s hockey squad has some crunches to do. After meeting the Mount Royal College Cougars and the Grant MacEwan College Griffins, our ladies are still searching high and low for a first win.

“We have the talent,” Captain Shauna Raugust said with confidence. “We need the confidence going into the games to win.”

Friday, Nov. 5 saw the Dinos take on MRC in their own den. The Cougars took advantage of the young Dinos early, netting three goals in the first two periods. Strong defence on the opponents side held the Dinos goal total to nil until the third period.

As if the Dinos were attempting to be dainty ladies at a buffet, they took just a taste of scoring, a side plate of comeback and a scoop of defence. Unfortunately, when it came to the winning dish our lovely ladies pretended to be full and even offered to foot the bill. As a result they were served a 3-2 loss. Raugust and forward Jennifer Mansell each netted one in the Dinos efforts.

The next battle was fought at home against the Griffins Sat., Nov. 6. Despite much excitement and debauchery, each team received a shutout and an unsatisfactory tie to add to their records.

“We dominated play for most of the game, but turned it on too late.” Raugust frowned.

This was the first shutout for either goalie or either team for that matter and marks just the second shutout in the ACAC league’s regular season. Dinos goalie Tiana Velestuk has been attempting to fill the Ronald McDonald sized shoes of her predecessor Tonya Young. Young was a great factor in the Dinos playoff success last year and was named to the ACAC First All-Star Team.

The girls’ next action is in the form of a home series against the Red Deer College Queens and the NAIT Nooks Nov. 19-20. Inside sources say that the Dinos are working on a special deke, dubbed the “earwiggle” that is sure to take the Queens and Nooks by surprise. Both games are played at 7 p.m. So why not show up at the Father David Bauer Arena and rapidly smash two hands together as our ladies vie for their first win.