Following a difficult first semester, the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team hopes that 2014 will bring the team better fortune.
The Horns kick off the second semester of conference action this weekend hosting the Regina Cougars for a pair of games. Puck drops both Friday and Saturday nights at 7 p.m. at Nicholas Sheran Arena and both games will also be streamed live on http://canadawest.tv.
After going 1-14-1 through the first semester, the Horns would like to forget the 2013 portion of the Canada West schedule, when everything that could go wrong seemingly did. The Horns are 10 points out of a playoff spot with just 12 games to play, but with eight of those 12 games at home, the schedule is finally working in their favour.
Though 16 games, the Horns have scored the fewest goals in the conference with 27 and allowed the most goals against with 87.
Freshman Ryon Moser leads the U of L with three goals and eight assists, while Cass Mappin and first-year centre Brock Hirshe are tied for the team lead in goals with five apiece.
For the Cougars, who are sitting at .500 (8-8-0), the second half will be a dogfight for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Entering play, the Cougars are fourth with 16 points, one point behind the Saskatchewan Huskies for third and only one point ahead of the Manitoba Bisons.
Offensively, the Cougars are led by Cody Fowlie and Brody Luhning who have registered 15 and 12 points respectively, while Liam Brennan leads the team in goals with seven.
Between the pipes, the Cougars have platooned the tandem of Andrew Hayes and Lucas Gore with both making eight appearances this season. Hayes has the better numbers statistically with a 2.98 goals-against-average and a 0.909 save percentage, however both goalies have each earned four wins.
Earlier this season, the Cougars swept the ‘Horns in Regina, winning by 6-0 and 4-1 scores.