Edmonton - First, second and third year forwards Levko Koper (first), Johnny Lazo (second) and Sean Ringrose (third) combined for nine points as the No.5 ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears’ hockey team defeated the Lethbridge Pronghorns 6-3 Saturday night at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.
Lazo and Ringrose each banked a goal and two assists, while Koper racked up three helpers to pace the Golden Bears to their second consecutive victory over the Pronghorns, and sixth in as many games this season. Rookies Thomas Carr and Jordan Hickmott each added a goal and an assist on Saturday night, while Ben Lindemulder and captain Greg Gardner each scored once for Alberta.
The Golden Bears’ power-play, which struggled through parts of the regular season, was dynamite on Saturday, connecting for four goals on seven opportunities.
Lethbridge received a pair of goals from freshman defenseman DJ McDougall, and a single tally from rookie forward Clayton Cumiskey. Both of McDougall’s goals were on the power-play, as the Pronghorns went 2-4 with the extra attacker, while Cumiskey’s goal was scored while shorthanded. Team captain Dustin Moore finished the night with a pair of assists.
With the win, Alberta finishes the regular season with a record of 20-6-2 and clinches second place in the Canada West standings, just one point behind the Manitoba Bisons, and one point clear of the Saskatchewan Huskies. As a result, the Bears will have a ‘bye’ weekend next week, and then host a conference semi-final series against either Saskatchewan or Lethbridge who meet in Saskatoon Feb. 24-26 in a best-of-three quarter-final match-up.
After combining for six first period goals on Friday, and 10 in total, it’s no surprise that Saturday started with a bang as well. Unfortunately, that bang cost both teams as Pronghorns’ forward Mark Hall decimated Bears’ sophomore defenseman Jesse Craige with a hit-to-the-head body check at 6:20 of the first period; a hit that removed Craige from the contest, and saw Hall penalized to the tune of five minutes and a game misconduct.
On the ensuing extra long power-play, Alberta buried a pair of goals in 29 seconds past Lethbridge goalie Scott Bowles, including, as per his modus operandi, a laser beam just underneath the crossbar from Lazo, which was his team leading 15th goal of the season.
However, before the period was out, the Pronghorns’ special teams unit struck twice, as Cumiskey scored while shorthanded at 8:43, and then McDougall notched his first of the night, a howitzer to the top corner to tie the score just before the intermission.
Just 22 seconds into the second, Lethbridge staked out their first and only lead of the game when MacDougall scored again, this time finishing off a sweet goal mouth tap-in feed from Moore.
Ringrose, the Golden Bears’ leading point producer with 29 points in 27 games, stuffed a loose puck past a sprawling Bowles’ at 6:07 of the second period to tie the score at 3-3. Just over three minutes later, Alberta was back in front when Carr, Alberta’s leading blue line scorer, sifted a wrist shot from the point through heavy traffic and past a screened Bowles for the eventual game winner.
In the third period, Lindemulder picked up his fifth goal and ninth point of the season at the 7:20 mark, and then Gardner sealed the deal when he tapped a beautiful pass from Kruise Reddick beyond Bowles to complete the scoring at 6-3.
Fourth-year goalie Real Cyr, who is the Canada West leader in goals against average (1.59) and save percentage (.935), stopped 23 shots for his 13th win of the season.
Scott Bowles, a fifth-year netminder from Penticton, BC, was ultra competitive in the Pronghorns goal, stopping 35 of 41 Alberta shots in the loss.
Both Alberta and Lethbridge now head into the playoffs gunning for the lone Canada West berth to the CIS University Cup championship, March 22-25 at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, NB.
