Horns women's hockey team looks to get back on track

trevor.kenney — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 23:08:20 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s hockey team returns to action this week after their first half bye a week ago, hosting the Manitoba Bisons for a pair of games at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

The bye could not have come at a better time for the Horns, having lost three games in a row, including being swept by the Alberta Pandas in their last conference action in Edmonton.

The Pronghorns will look to limit scoring chances this weekend when they host the Manitoba Bisons for a two-game set at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

Those two losses to the Pandas dropped the Horns to two games under .500 and they currently sit sixth in the conference with a record of 3-5-2. While the conference has seen some separation in the standings in the past few weeks, only eight points separate the first place Saskatchewan Huskies and UBC Thunderbirds and seventh place Calgary Dinos.

If the Horns are going to make a move up the standings this season, they will need to shore up their defensive game. The Horns are tied for the most goals allowed in the conference with 31. Shauntelle Williams and Crystal Patterson have split the goaltending duties thus far, with both starting five contests, but neither of them rank among the top ten in Canada West goals against averages.

Another area of concern for the Horns is the team’s specialty team units. Currently, the Pronghorns are ranked last in the conference in penalty killing (79.5%) and seventh in power play (98.1%).

Offensively, the Horns have scored 21 goals in 10 games are led by the trio of Sadie Lenstra, Sarah Spence and Kirsten Reeves. Lenstra has four goals and two assists, while Spence and Reeves each have six points.

For the Bisons, the 2013-14 season has been up and down through the first five weekends of action, and they sit one spot above the Horns in fifth place with a 5-4-1 record. Despite splitting their last two series with the Calgary Dinos and Regina Cougars, the Bisons have earned at least one point every weekend thus far.

The Bisons rank in the middle of the pack in both goals for and goals against with 22 and 21 respectively, but have the third best penalty killing unit in the conference, killing off 91% of their penalties.

Between the pipes, the Bisons have had three different goaltenders see action but rookie Amanda Schubert has the superior numbers of the three. In five appearances, Schubert has a 1.29 goals-against-average and a 0.942 save percentage.

Meagan Vestby leads the Bison offensive attack with one goal and a conference best 11 assists. Kyleigh Palmer and Maggie Litchfield-Medd lead the team in goals with four apiece.

Puck drop for both Friday and Saturday night’s games are scheduled for 7 p.m. and the games will also be streamed live on http://canadawest.tv

UNews - Maggie Litchfield-Medd

Horns women's hockey team looks to get back on track

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