UNews - ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Golden Bears

Horns head out on the road to face fifth-ranked Bears

trevor.kenney — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 17:37:38 +0000

Coming off a hard fought 2-1 win last Sunday, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s soccer team (1-3-0) heads out on the road this weekend for a pair of games versus the CIS fifth-ranked ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Golden Bears (2-0-1).

Both games are scheduled for 2:15 p.m. at Foote Field in Edmonton.

After falling behind last Sunday, the ‘Horns scored two unanswered goals to earn their first win of the season, over the previously undefeated Saskatchewan Huskies.

Offensively, the Horns have relied on a balanced attack with four different goal scorers accounting for the team’s four goals.

At the other end of the pitch, as evident from last weekend’s performance versus the high powered Huskies, the ‘Horns can be one of the strongest defensive teams. The Huskies have two of the best strikers in the conference and the ‘Horns held the Huskies to a combined 10 shots on goal in the two-game weekend series.

For the Bears, this weekend will be their first games at home after starting the season with three games on the road. After opening the season with a disappointing 1-1 tie in Prince George versus the UNBC Timberwolves, the Bears swept the Calgary Dinos last weekend in Calgary with a pair of two-goal victories.

The duo of 2012 Canada West first team all-stars Marcus Johnstone and CJ Gilroy have been the offensive catalysts for the Bears, leading the team with two goals apiece.

Last season, the ‘Horns took four points from the Bears in their weekend series in Lethbridge with the ‘Horns earning a 2-0 win and the two teams battling to a scoreless draw.

The ‘Horns will return home next weekend to host the Mount Royal Cougars for a pair of games.

Horns hockey schedules finalized

trevor.kenney — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:09:12 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's and women's hockey teams open their 2013-14 Canada West hockey schedules in early October, and with both teams coming off non-playoff seasons, will need a quick start to get off on the right foot.

The Horns women's team hosts the first home game of the season when they welcome the defending Canada West champion ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia T-Birds to Nicholas Sheran Arena on Oct. 4-5. That weekend will mark the start of a stretch that sees the Horns host seven of their first eight games at Nicholas Sheran.

The following weekend (Oct. 11-12), the Regina Cougars come to town, before a home-and-home set with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos follows. The streak of home games concludes Oct. 25-26 when the Horns entertain the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan Huskies. Of course, with so many home games ot start the season, the U of L will be forced to play the majority of its road schedule in the season's second half, and will host just four home games after Christmas.

On the men's side, the Horns will play the opposite schedule of their women counterparts, opening the season with seven of eight games on the road, including an Oct. 11-12 series at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Regina that marks the beginning of their conference schedule.

The U of L will open on home ice Oct. 18 with the front end of a home-and-home series against the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos.

During the first half of the season, the Horns will only skate on home ice six times, hosting the defending Canada West champion ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Golden Bears (Nov. 8-9), Mount Royal ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (Nov. 22) and UBC Thunderbirds (Nov. 29-30) in addition to the Dinos.

After the holiday break, the Horns will play eight of their remaining 12 games at Nicholas Sheran Arena. Puck drop for all homes games at Nicholas Sheran Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.

For season tickets, call Pronghorn Athletics at 403-329-2681. Check out the full schedules at gohorns.ca.

Horns swimming in top-10

trevor.kenney — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 23:27:05 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's swim team has cracked the 2012 CIS Top-10 swim rankings for the first time in more than 10 years.

Fresh off an excellent performance at the Dino ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Invitational in Calgary last weekend, the 'Horns have jumped into the seventh spot nationally. The Dino meet continued a run of positive early season results.

Highlighting the weekend for the men's side was a third place finish in the 200-metre medlay relay. The 'Horns were just behind CIS powers UBC Thunderbirds and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos. The team of Nick Vander Sloot, Jeff Nicol, Ryan Thornley and Tiha Konyves set a new school record by more than two seconds and beat the defending CIS bronze medalist ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Golden Bears.

The 'Horns also finished fourth in the 200-metre free relay, breaking the school's best time by more than a second. The team of Vander Sloot, Thornley, Konyves and Hunter Scott finished with a time of 1:34.52.

"It was a good start to the season for us against some of the top teams in the CIS," says first-year Pronghorn head coach Peter Schori. "Canada West is the toughest swimming conference in the country and we are closing the gap between us and the top schools."

To date, the 'Horns have 18 qualifiers (10 men and 8 women) for the Canada West Championships that will be hosted by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria, Jan. 25-27, 2013. Five Pronghorn men have also already qualified for the CIS Championships in February.

Following are the current CIS rankings.

MEN'S SWIMMING
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Toronto 610 points / (1)
2. Calgary 603 / (2)
3. UBC 263 / (NR)
4. Laval 260 / (3)
5. Alberta 218 / (8)
6. Montreal 170 / (4)
7. Lethbridge 160 / (NR)
8. McGill 148 / (5)
9. Ottawa 113 / (7)
10. McMaster 105 / (9)

WOMEN'S SWIMMING
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Calgary 399 points / (3)
2. Montreal 368 / (1)
3. Toronto 365 / (4)
4. UBC 354 / (NR)
5. McGill 249 / (2)
6. Alberta 157 / (9)
7. UQTR 149 / (6)
8. McMaster 126 / (5)
9. Guelph 104 / (7)
10. Dalhousie 103 / (NR)

Playoff push continues for Horns

trevor.kenney — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:59:45 +0000

Heading into the home stretch of the Canada West conference schedules, all four Pronghorns teams face critical matchups as they drive for post-season berths. The women's hockey team is the lone team at home, hosting perennial powerhouse Alberta Pandas, while the men's hockey team heads north to face the Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton. Horns basketball hits the road for the second consecutive week, traveling to Saskatoon to face the Saskatchewan Huskies.

With only three weekends of conference action remaining and sitting four points out of a playoff spot, the Pronghorns women's hockey team (4-10-4) faces a tough task hosting the CIS third ranked and conference leading Alberta Pandas (19-1-0). In November, the Pandas swept the Horns in Edmonton winning by 4-1 and 3-0 scores.

Coming off two tough losses last weekend, the Horns are in desperate need of points as they trail the Regina Cougars by four points for the fourth and final playoff spot, but will face the Cougars next weekend in Regina. The Horns will also have to leapfrog UBC in the standings, but they do hold two games in hand on the Thunderbirds.

After opening the conference schedule with 17 consecutive wins, the Pandas suffered their first loss three weeks ago, losing 2-0 in Vancouver to UBC. The Pandas had a bye last weekend but swept the Saskatchewan Huskies in their last conference action in Edmonton.

Puck drop for both Friday and Saturday night is set for 7 p.m. at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

All other Pronghorn action is on the road as both the men's and women's basketball teams travel to Saskatoon to face the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan. Both clubs are still in the thick of the playoff races and this weekend's games are crucial.

Meanwhile, men's hockey ventures to Edmonton to face the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Golden Bears. They too are looking for a playoff spot and need points out of this key two-game set.

For a full weekend preview, check out the Horns website.

For a look at a U of S basketball preview of this weekend's matchup with the Horns, visit this link:
http://www.youtube.com/saskhuskies#p/a/u/0/eQNhVtRMuJo

Horns to face T-Birds in playoffs

trevor.kenney — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:41:27 +0000

The dates had already been set and now the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey team knows who it will host in the first round of the Canada West playoffs.

UBC Thunderbirds will fly into town for the Mar. 6-8 best-of-three opening round series after they swept ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos this past weekend. The T-Birds opened the weekend out of the playoffs but went on the road to sweep the Dinos, not only clinching a post-season berth but leapfrogging ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Regina Cougars and grabbing the fifth seed.

The Pronghorns played what was essentially a tune-up series against top-seeded ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Golden Bears. Both teams were minus players attending the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Games in China and both clubs had their playoff positions cemented entering weekend play. The Bears earned a sweep with a pair of one-goal victories (5-4 in a shootout on Friday and 2-1 Saturday night).

Now, the fourth-seeded Horns (14-13-1) face a T-Birds (11-14-3) squad that is not only on a roll but that owned the Pronghorns in the season series. UBC took the series 3-1, winning the last three games after the Horns won the opener 7-2 back in October.

The Canada West playoff series is Mar. 6-8 at Nicholas Sheran Arena with games at 7 p.m. all three nights.

Winter Universiade

Canada continued to roll at the 2009 Winter Universiade, running its record to 3-0 in men's ice hockey preliminaries with a pair of weekend victories.

Pronghorns defenceman Ryan Pottruff and forward Dustin Moore helped Canada to an 11-2 win over Great Britain and a 3-1 triumph over the Czech Republic. The club is back in action Tuesday when it meets Kazakhstan.

Horn men clinch playoff berth

trevor.kenney — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:30:56 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey team is headed back to the Canada West playoffs and they'll do so on home ice, beginning Mar. 6.

The Horns clinched not only a playoff spot but also a home playoff series this past weekend when they picked up a split with ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos. After a lackluster 6-2 loss Friday night at Nicholas Sheran Arena, the Horns rebounded with a solid 5-2 victory over the Dinos on Saturday night. Four power play goals, including a pair from defenceman Ryan Pottruff, paved the way for the Horns, who improved to 14-12-0 on the season.

The U of L, now fourth in the Canada West standings, still has a shot at third place but would need a weekend sweep of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Golden Bears to catch the idle ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba Bisons. At worst, the Horns will finish fourth in the conference and host a playoff series against either Regina, UBC or Calgary. All three of those teams are still battling for the fifth and sixth playoff positions (although Regina has at least clinched one of those spots).

The Horns last made the playoffs in 2006-07 when they hosted UBC Thunderbirds and lost a three-game series 2-1. The club concludes its Canada West regular season this weekend, also at home, when the first place Golden Bears (20-4-2) come calling for games Friday and Saturday nights, 7 p.m., at Nicholas Sheran.

Women's Hockey

The Pronghorns will not be suiting up for playoff action this spring but a weekend split, capped by Sunday's 7-3 rout, was a good way to cap the 2008-09 Canada West regular season.

The Horns got three goals from Shelby Ballendine and a pair from Brittany Kaye to blitz the playoff-bound UBC T-Birds 7-3. The win followed a 6-4 loss on Saturday that saw the Horns nearly erase a 5-1 first period deficit.

U of L finished the season 4-19-1 and graduated a pair of players, Lindsay Peters and Johanna Myers.

CIS ranking suits Horns fine

trevor.kenney — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:31:07 +0000

Ironically, the cure for fixing the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns' penchant to split every Canada West hockey series was a sweep — in which they were the losers.

Prior to a Nov. 7-8 two-game set in Edmonton against the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Golden Bears, the Pronghorns men's hockey team had fashioned an even 4-4-0 record. In four previous series they'd won one and lost one. The Golden Bears then blew them out 4-1 and 9-1 on successive nights and suddenly, the 'Horns snapped to attention.

"Getting whacked by U of A kind of opened everybody's eyes," Pronghorns defenceman Ryan Pottruff says. "We knew we had a good hockey team, but if we didn't want to work hard and dedicate ourselves to systems, then we were going to get blown out of the water."

A week later the 'Horns kicked off a six-game winning streak with a home-and-home sweep of Calgary Dinos that sent the team into the Christmas break with a 10-6-0 mark and a 10th place spot (they are currently ranked 9th) in the national rankings.

"They finally believed they could win two in a row," Pronghorns head coach Greg Gatto says. "It took us forever to win those first two, and now, after we won the fourth, fifth and sixth in a row, they weren't even excited because they just expected it."

Dustin Moore, the team's leading scorer and sixth-rated scorer in the league, says the first sweep proved to be an eye opener for the club.

"Once we got our first sweep, everybody got to see how easy Monday morning practices are," he says. "I think we realized if you work hard on Saturday and get that sweep, it's better for everyone."

Back in the national rankings for the first time in six years, Gatto doesn't fear his club resting on its laurels. A tough second-half schedule just won't allow for any loss of focus.

"We're pretty excited we're up there but we've also been pretty fortunate," Gatto says, noting the team's four wins over Calgary were by a combined five goals.

"We lose those four games and suddenly we're 6-10, so we're pretty realistic of where we're at. We've got a really tough second half, but the ranking gives us some confidence going in, and it is nice to see some recognition when you're doing well."

Horns men's hockey back in national rankings

trevor.kenney — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:26:59 +0000

For the first time in six seasons, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey team is back in the national rankings.
The Pronghorns, on the strength of a six-game winning streak, cracked the Canadian Interuniversity Sport top-10 rankings list heading into the Christmas break with a 10th place standing.
The Horns (10-6-0) sit third in the Canada West standings, just three points back of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Golden Bears and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan Huskies. Alberta is ranked first in the country and the Huskies are in third spot. The last time the Pronghorns made it into the CIS rankings was the week of Nov. 12, 2002.
The club completed a home-and-home sweep of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos heading into the Christmas break and will resume Canada West play with a
pair of home games, Jan. 9-10, when the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Regina Cougars visit Nicholas Sheran Arena.
In other news related to the team, defenceman Ryan Pottruff and forward Dustin Moore each earned spots on the Canada West all-star team that will travel to China in February to represent Canada at the 2009 Winter Universiade.

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