SASKATOON, Sask. - Madison Willan scored the would-be game winner with 5:10 remaining in the second period to lead the U SPORTS No. 6-ranked Alberta Pandas past the Saskatchewan Huskies Friday night (Nov. 22) and Merlis Belsher Place. 

The visiting Pandas earned a convincing victory on the road, controlling the vast majority of play in the third meeting between Saskatchewan and Alberta this season. The Pandas earned a 33-14 shot advantage by the final whistle, limiting the Dogs to no more than five shots in each period. 

Brooklyn Tews and Maia Ehmann also found the back of the net for Alberta, recording their second and fifth goals respectively. In net, Grace Glover was perfect in a quiet night between the pipes, recording 14 saves for her third shutout of the season. With the clean sheet, Glover lowers her conference-best goals against average to an impressive 0.82. 

Despite the final score, Saskatchewan received a strong performance from netminder Emma Backman, who turned aside 33 of 35 shots faced. The second year kinesiology student was a steady presence through over 35 minutes of action, stopping 14 Panda shots in the first and a plethora before Alberta opened the scoring in the second. The Huskies take their ninth loss of the season and move to 0-9-4 while the Pandas extend their lead over the East Division to three points with a 10-3-0 record. 

Despite a slow start the game, Backman continued to give the Huskies second chances with a solid performance in the opening frame, turning aside several scoring opportunities from the visiting team. After gaining momentum with a penalty kill midway through the second, Alberta broke the scoreless streak with Willan's third of the season. Jaydnn Morden and Izzy Lajoie would each pick up an assist on the play and for Lajoie, it was the first of two on the night. Coming out for the third it was once again the Panda's penalty kill that sparked a momentum shift. Following a cross checking kill,  Alberta turned up the offensive pressure, resulting in a two-goal advantage thanks to Brooklyn Tews. 

Any hope of a comeback was squashed after Maia Ehmann netted an empty-netter with less than 1:30 remaining. 

The teams return to Merlis Belsher Place tomorrow evening for the second game of their weekend series with puck drop set fro 5:00 PM CST.