Connor Hood, Golden Bears and Pandas Athletics

EDMONTON - Third-year forward Alex Poznikoff scored the lone goal on Saturday, her third of the weekend, as her University of Alberta Pandas earned their seventh-consecutive win with a 1-0 defeat of the Lethbridge Pronghorns, Saturday afternoon at Clare Drake Arena. 

The shutout was also the Pandas sixth straight, as they extended their shutout streak to 411:38, which is the second-longest streak in Canada West history. The current streak was set by the early 2000's Pandas, who earned six straight to close out the 2000-2001 season, and began the 2001-2002 Canada West season with their seventh straight. 

Alberta, now 13-4-4-3, remain in the hunt for a top two seed, moving into second in Canada West with 50 points in 24 games. The Manitoba Bisons, thanks to a weekend sweep of their own over Regina, stay atop the conference standings with 53 points. 

Lethbridge, meanwhile, has now dropped ten straight conference games, and continue to occupy last in Canada West with a 3-16-2-3 record. 

Poznikoff was the only goal scorer all weekend, scoring both goals in the Pandas 2-0 win the previous night, to go along with her goal on Saturday. The trio of goals this weekend pushed the third-year sniper into a tie for the conference-lead with 11 goals in 24 goals. Canada West scoring leader Autumn MacDougall also added to her conference-lead, tallying her 16 assist and 27th point on Poznikoff's goal in the third period. 

While the scoreline was close, the game itself was not, as Alberta completely dominated Lethbridge from start to finish. The Pandas outshot Lethbridge 32-10 in the game, including 10-3 in the first period, and 14-1 in the second. However, a large majority of the Alberta shots in the first two periods were from the perimeter, while the shots from in tight were stopped by Alicia Anderson, who turned in another stellar performance. 

The break for Alberta finally came midway through the third, as Poznikoff got a stick on MacDougall's centering pass, flipping the puck over a diving Anderson. 

While the third period was easily Lethbridge's best, they still were unable to penetrate the Pandas stingy defence, mustering just six third-period shots. The Pronghorns were also gifted with a pair of powerplays in the final frame, but were unable to beat Panda starter Kirsten Chamberlin, who made 10 saves to earn her fourth clean sheet of the season. 

The Pandas will look to continue their second-half dominance next weekend, as they travel to Saskatoon for a series against the Saskatchewan Huskies. Lethbridge, in desperate need of a pair of wins, will return home for a series against the first place Bisons.