Panthers schedule

A look at this week’s UPEI Panthers varsity sports schedule:

Today

Women’s basketball

6 p.m. – UPEI at Acadia.

Men’s hockey

7 p.m. – Acadia at UPEI.

Men’s basketball

8 p.m. – UPEI at Acadia.

Saturday

Track and field

Indoor meet at Dalhousie, time to be determined.

Women’s hockey

3 p.m. – Saint Mary’s vs. UPEI at the Montague Wellness Centre.

Women’s basketball

6 p.m. – UPEI at Acadia.

Men’s hockey

7 p.m. – Saint Mary’s at UPEI. (men’s hockey alumni day)

Men’s basketball

8 p.m. – UPEI at Acadia.

Sunday

Women’s hockey

3 p.m. – UPEI at St. FX.

The Panthers played last weekend without the injured R.T. Rice, Austin Levi and Brent Andrews while Cody Payne served his two-game suspension. Gabe Guertler, Chad Labelle, Matthew Mancina and Mitchell Dempsey all got hurt last weekend.

MacPherson is hoping to have Guertler and Rice back for today’s 7 p.m. contest with the Acadia Axemen at MacLauchlan Arena, but he was not sure if that would be the case heading into Thursday’s practice.

“What do you do?” MacPherson asked. “We’ve almost become numb to the fact, and it’s almost like our new norm.”

And while the injuries and suspensions have impacted who dresses for the games, it hasn’t changed the expectations.

“We’re preparing to play to win this weekend,” MacPherson said.

The Panthers (5-16-1) are in a three-way battle with Dalhousie (4-18-1) and Moncton (3-17-2) for the final two playoff berths in the Atlantic University Sport. Acadia (15-5-2) is seven points back of second-place UNB and a point up on Saint Mary’s.

“It’s obviously in the back of our minds, how other teams are doing,” said Panthers fourthyear forward Marcus Power. “We realize that almost every game is almost like a playoffstyle