Horns hockey wraps up regular season
MEN’S TEAM TO FACE DINOS IN FIRST ROUND NEXT WEEKEND
Before the puck drops on the Canada West playoffs next weekend, the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team will get one more dress rehearsal.
Having clinched a spot in the post-season dance the previous weekend, the Horns wrap up the regular season with a home-and-home series with the Mount Royal Cougars tonight and Saturday.
It starts tonight in Calgary before the back half of the series shifts to Nicholas Sheran Arena Saturday at 7 p.m.
On the women’s side, the Pronghorns — officially eliminated from the post-season race last weekend — complete their season, also with a home-and-home series with the Cougars.
The Pronghorn men grabbed the sixth-andfinal playoff spot with the Manitoba Bisons loss to the UBC Thunderbirds last weekend.
The 8-16-2 squad will look to add two more wins against the 11-10-5 Cougars, who are still attempting to clinch a playoff home date next weekend.
The Cougars enter the weekend one point ahead of the UBC Thunderbirds for fourth place. The Cougars and TBirds will face each other next weekend but the location is still to be determined.
Pronghorns fifth-year veteran Justin Valentino has cracked the top-10 in Canada West scoring with eight goals and 25 points.
His career best is 28 points in a season. Valentino enters the weekend with 94 career points as a Pronghorn.
Brooks Maxwell had three assists in Lethbridge’s 9-5 loss to the Alberta Golden Bears last weekend in Edmonton to tie his career high for points in a game. He has 13 points in 16 games this season.
The Cougars won both games versus the Pronghorns earlier this season.
The Pronghorns will open playoffs next weekend with the best-of-three quarter-final against the Calgary Dinos in Calgary.
The Horns women will host the Cougars tonight at 7 p.m. at Nicholas Sheran Arena before wrapping up the series and the season in Calgary Saturday.
The 6-15-1-4 Pronghorns are out of post-season contention, but the Cougars (9-14-1-2) can still move up to fifth place with wins this weekend, trailing the Regina Cougars by three points.
With a heavy workload this season, Pronghorns goaltender Alicia Anderson moved into the top-10 in the Canada West record books for minutes played in a single season with 1,440:50. That total leads all goalies this season.
Anderson is also tied for second in Canada West with five shutouts and has a 2.08 goals-against average and a 0.942 save percentage.
Ali Borrow and Tricia Van Vaerenbergh lead the Pronghorns in scoring with six goals and four assists each.
Both games will be webcast live on pay-per-view at www.canadawest.tv.