The Pandas jumped over Trinity Western for second in the division after the Spartans lost to Regina in overtime. A Pandas win tomorrow over the Griffins at home will secure the second seed, and a home quarter-final series. 
 

The Pandas scored three times in the second period on goals from Hayleigh Craig, Hailey Carothers and Jadynn Morden, while Ryann Perrett added an empty-netter late in the third to round out the scoring. Lindsey Johnson made 18 saves in the loss, as the Griffins fell to 5-20-2 this season.

It was a scoreless game after the first period, and MacEwan had the better looks and opportunities, but they got into some penalty trouble early in the second period and the Pandas found a way to cash in. Craig's goal came on a five-on-three advantage after Robyn Short took a delay-of-game penalty with Ana Djordjevic already in the box.

Alberta passed it around nicely and Craig's shot from the slot through traffic beat Johnson to give the Pandas a 1-0 lead at the 3:56 mark of the second. Then just four seconds after Short came out of the box, Alberta made it 2-0 on a nice shot from Carothers through traffic.

Then with under five minutes left in the period, Alberta capitalized on another power play as Morden got open in the slot and snapped a shot through traffic and over the shoulder of Johnson to make it 3-0.

Despite being down 3-0 after 40 minutes, the Griffins didn't fold. They continued to push to try and get on the board, but they came up empty, despite outshooting Alberta 24-22.