Connor Hood, Golden Bears and Pandas Athletics
EDMONTON - Autumn MacDougall added to her Canada West goal scoring lead with another two tallies on Saturday, leading the Pandas to a 5-1 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns at Clare Drake Arena.
After not beating Lethbridge starter Alicia Anderson in regulation or overtime the night prior, the Pandas offence exploded for five goals on 34 shots on Saturday. MacDougall also added two assists, as her four-point performance gave her the conference lead in goals (8) and points (18). Abby Krzyzaniak, Alex Poznikoff and Jaslin Sawatzky also scored for Alberta, who improve to 8-2-2-0 with their sixth-straight win.
The loss is the fourth in-a-row for Lethbridge, who remains in seventh place with three wins and 11 points this season.
And while it was the Pandas who largely controlled the entire game on Saturday, it was actually Lethbridge who opened the scoring first. Delaney Duchek found a soft spot in the Pandas defence, taking a feed from Mackenzie Gal in the slot, and beating Pandas starter Kirsten Chamberlin.
From that moment on, however, it was all Alberta. Krzyzaniak tied the game at one just five minutes later, tipping in a point shot from Abby Benning.
The Pandas added to their lead early in the second, as MacDougall scored her first of the night, potting in a rebound off the end boards. Poznikoff, who is also tied with MacDougall for the scoring lead with 18, added her seventh of the season late in the second to give Alberta a 3-1 lead.
Lethbridge did generate more offence than the previous night, finishing with 16 shots on net. However after their early goal, they struggled to maintain offensive pressure, while both Pandas goalies who saw action stopped the shots that made their way to the net.
Sawatzky added her first of the season off a cross-ice feed from Poznikoff early in the third, before MacDougall sealed the win with a late burst with under two minutes left, beating Anderson glove side.
With six-straight wins, the Pandas maintain their spot atop the conference standings, and will meet up with the Calgary Dinos next weekend in a home-and-home series. Lethbridge, meanwhile, will look to get back in the win column as they take on the Mount Royal Cougars.