Lethbridge – October is breast cancer awareness month and with this weekend being the last home games of the month for the Lethbridge Pronghorn women’s hockey team (1-2-1 CW) the team will host their third annual ‘Pink in the Rink’ weekend, hosting the UBC Thunderbirds (1-1-2 CW).
 
After a tough opening weekend versus the CIS top ranked Calgary Dinos, the ‘Horns earned three of a possible four points last weekend on the road in Regina. In a defensive struggle Friday night, the ‘Horns fell 1-0 to the Cougars in overtime before a late goal from Breanna Frasca on Saturday night lifted the ‘Horns to their first win of the season.
 
The ‘Horns have struggled offensively to start the season, scoring only seven times in the four games thus far, but last Saturday’s four goals was the most they had scored this season and hope that it is a sign of things to come. Sophomore Kirsten Reeves is tied for second on the conference’s goal scoring list with three goals in four games.
 
For the ‘Horns to continue to move in the right direction they will need to right the ship with their specialty teams. While it is only four games in, the ‘Horns are currently last in both power play and penalty killing percentages. Entering the weekend, the power play is operating a dismal 5.9% and the ‘Horns are successfully killing off penalties only 78% of the time. On the other side, the T-Birds power play is second in the conference at 26.3% and penalty killing is ranked fourth operating at 82.4%.
 
Under the guidance of first-year head coach Graham Thomas, the Thunderbirds are off to a solid start. In their opening weekend, the T-Birds earned three points versus the Cougars and last weekend, took the Dinos to overtime in the second game of the weekend series to earn a point.
 
In the four games thus far, the T-Birds have use three different goaltenders and have allowed a conference high 14 goals.
 
Puck drop is scheduled for Friday at 7:00pm and Saturday night at 6:00pm at Nicholas Sheran Arena. The games will also be webcast on www.canadawest.tv, the home of all Canada West webcasts.
 
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