Horns women add defenceman
The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns have added a second recruit as they look ahead to the 2018-19 Canada West season.
The Horns announced Wednesday they have signed defenceman Meg Dyer.
The five-foot-nine blue-liner from Calgary is currently playing with the Rocky Mountain Raiders of the Alberta Female Hockey League.
In 28 games this season, Dyer has one goal and 10 assists as the Raiders lead the league with a record of 23-4-3-2.
Last season with the Raiders Dyer had one goal and four assists in 30 games.
The Raiders, 10 points clear of second place St. Albert, play their final regular-season game this weekend and look to have a long playoff run to challenge for a berth in the ESSO Cup.
At the begining of February, the Pronghorns announced the addition of blue-liner Ashlee Hirschfield from the Boston Shamrocks.
It’s a sports cliche, but feel free to slap it on the Lethbridge College Kodiaks mens’ basketball team. The eight best men’s basketball teams from across the province will call the Val Matteotti Gymnasium home for the next three days as the Kodiaks host this year’s Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference provincial championship.
As the Kodiaks get ready to tip off their provincial run in the late game tonight at 8. against the Concordia University College Thunder, they do so as a team peaking at the right time, having capped off their regular season on an six-game winning streak that gave them fourth place in the ACAC South and a 13-8 record.
“Right now we’re on an all-time high,” said said fifth-year three guard Pierce Van Gaalen. “We have a lot of confidence and we’ve been rolling for the last few weeks in those games playing the best ball we have all year, in my opinion. There’s just a lot of confidence rolling into tonight.”
Which is good, considering the Kodiaks first game is against the ACAC-leading Thunder, who went 19-5 this season and are riding a tidy winning clip of their own at 10 games.
“They’re a team like us, they just play hard for 40 minutes. It’s going to be really tough competition,” said Van Gaalen. “We played them once in preseason. It was a good game, but that was a long time ago. They’ve gotten a lot better and we’ve gotten a lot better. But I think both of our teams match up really well and it should be a good game.”
Kodiaks head coach Ryan Heggie noted a fast-paced team the Kodiaks will face tonight.
“They play zone defence and they play tough man-to-man, they push the ball. They’re not going to get rattled because they have some veteran players. It’s really a matchup of similar styles. They’re going to be tough. They’re number one and they won 19 games up there this year. If we just continue to do our stuff, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”
To the hosts credit, the Kodiaks have toppled some highranked teams this season, including two wins over the South Division-leading SAIT Trojans (16-5).
“We have some success against SAIT and Medicine Hat, both team that were ranked higher than us in the standings and in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association rankings,” said Heggie. “So we feel our brand is peaking at the right time. Then we played some teams below us in the standings that we feel we should have beaten and we took care of business. The guys are excited and they’re playing together. We’re together as a team. We’re all on the same page. It’s a onegame showdown every night and if we play the brand we play, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”
Heggie said that will be achieved by playing the type of basketball that helped his team end the regular season on a hot streak.
Namely, tough defence and ball distribution.
“It doesn’t matter who puts the ball through the hoop. We lead the league in assists, so we have to continue to do that. Michael Clemons is our quarterback there. He gets the ball sharing and we expect everybody else to share the ball. If you’re open, shoot it. If not, make a better play.”
Van Gaalen heads into provincials as one of three fifthyear graduating players that also includes Colton Murray and Cole Crick.
“Colton and Pierce have been with the program for four seasons, so they have playoff experience,” said Heggie. “Cole has been in playoffs before. They can provide some calmness, but at the end of the day, it’s a game of basketball. It’s a bigger stage. It’s a oneand-done format. There are games on the consolation side, but they come to play every game every day. I’m confident those three guys will provide that leadership.”
They’ll get to do that in front of a gym of familiar faces as provincial hosts.
“It’s going to be a lot different playing in front of a home crowd,” said Van Gaalen. “I think we have a big advantage because we have our hometown fans and there should be a lot of energy in the gym.”
The winner of this weekend’s provincials will head east to Laval, Quebec for the CCAA championship March 14–17.
If the Kodiaks have their way, that’s where they’ll be headed, but for now Van Gaalen was looking forward to being a provincial host in his final year.
“It’s pretty special playing for the same school for five years and how we can host provincials in my last year,” said Van Gaalen. “For me, that’s pretty special. I can have all my family and friends and the crowd supporting me and our team. From a leadership standpoint, I just want the team to enjoy it. The nerves will be there, but just get through them and have fun.”
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