HKY: CW goal leaders dazzle in weekend action

CALGARY – UBC's Cassidy Rhodes and Mount Royal's Riley Sawchuk were named the Canada West Hockey Players of the Week by the conference on Tuesday.

Rhodes helped her Thunderbirds get their feet under them Friday, evening the score with 13 seconds left in the first period. She picked a bobbling puck off a defender right in front of the Huskies net and fired it past the goaltender for her 11th of the season.

Building off that momentum, the Thunderbirds went on to add a couple more, sending the Huskies back to their hotel with the loss.

Rhodes welcomed them back Saturday with a four-point performance. Her first came late in the first as she battled a defender on the left side, still managing to fire a shot that found the back of the net. The rookie notched her second off a rebound in the slot, beating defenders to the skirting puck.

Rhodes added two assists to contribute on four of the Thunderbirds' six goals in the victory. She now leads Canada West in goals with 13, while posting a stellar shooting percentage of 23.6.

The weekend sweep kept UBC atop the CW standings.

Rhodes and the Thunderbirds will be back in action Friday and Saturday when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the Manitoba Bisons at 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. CST respectively. You can catch the action on Canada West TV.

Game log:
​Jan. 13: 1 goal in 3-1 W vs SSK
​Jan. 14: 2 goals, 2 assists in 6-0 W vs SSK

Meanwhile, Mount Royal's Riley Sawchuk had himself another outstanding weekend, putting up four goals and two assists in a weekend sweep of the Manitoba Bisons.

Sawchuk's first came off a lightning-quick wrist shot from the top of the face-off circle in the second period Friday evening. The goal restored Mount Royal's lead, which they only built upon. Sawchuk set up the next one, getting a helper on a goal by Nolan Yaremko. The Cougars closed out the game by a score 5-1.

Sawchuk's ability to be in the right place at the right time with his no-doubter of a shot was on full display Saturday, as he made no mistake on great feeds from Yaremko and Connor Bouchard. Bouchard set Sawchuk up twice to help him complete the hat-trick and boost his league-leading point total to 43.

His 18 goals also lead Canada West.

Sawchuk and the league-leading Cougars are now off for a week before returning for the Crowchild Classic on Jan. 27 against the second-ranked Calgary Dinos at the Saddledome. They'll square off again on Jan. 28 at the Flames Community Arena. Both games are slated for 7 p.m. MST. You can catch the action exclusively on Canada West TV.

Game log:
​Jan. 13: 1 goal, 1 assist in 6-1 W vs MAN
​Jan. 14: 3 goals, 1 assist in 7-0 W vs MAN