EDMONTON - Fourth-year captain Izzy Lajoie scored 2:54 into overtime, securing a 3-2 win for the Alberta Pandas over the Trinity Western Spartans on Friday night. 

Lajoie snapped a wrister past Spartans goalie Kate Fawcett on a three-on-two rush, as her seventh goal of the season gave Alberta their 20th win (20-3-4)  of the season. The win for the Pandas locks up their No. 2 seed in Canada West, and a first round playoff bye. Alberta will host a best-of-three semifinal series, February 23rd to 25th at Clare Drake Arena. 

Jadynn Morden and Abby Soyko also scored for the Pandas, who erased a 2-0 second period deficit. Misty Rey stopped 25 of the 27 Spartan shots she faced, improving to 6-0-0 this season. 

Katherine Chadwick and Kate Klassen scored for TWU, who were the better team for the first half of Friday's contest. Fawcett made 28 saves in the loss, as her record falls to 5-10-1 in 2023/24. 

TWU outshot the Pandas 13-3 in the opening frame, leaving the home crowd in shock. Chadwick opened the scoring with her third of the season just under three minutes into the contest. 

Klassen doubled the lead midway through the second, beating Rey with a beautiful move in tight. 

The Pandas tied the game late in the second, with Morden and Soyko scoring two minutes apart. 

The teams added six shots each, but were unable to add a game-winner in regulation. The Pandas outshot TWU 4-2 in overtime, capped off by Lajoie's winner. 

The two teams will close out the regular season tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. MT.