Box Score
Lethbridge – The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns dropped a hard-fought battle against the nation's top ranked University of Calgary Dinos, 2-1 in overtime, Saturday night, whose tenacious offense helped them complete the sweep of the two game home and home series.
Alex Sirard was the story for the Pronghorns all night, delivering a stellar performance, stopping all but two of the 65 shots he faced.
Jacob DeSerres started in net for the Dinos and stopped all but one of the 25 he faced.
Christopher Collins scored Calgary's only goal in regulation. Kevin King notched the overtime winner. David McMullen earned the lone goal Lethbridge.
After a tough loss last night in Calgary, the Horns looked to bounce back and split the weekend series on home ice. Tensions were noticeably high and as a result the penalty boxes were busy from the opening minute of play. Calgary had a man advantage for eight of the opening twelve minutes.
The Horns defense was put to the test early and often. So, too, was their net-minder Alex Sirard, who looked strong in the opening frame, turning aside a barrage of shots from all angles including a great early effort by Taylor Stefishen, whose hard shot hit the post and went wide.
After one period of play, shots on goal disproportionately favoured the Dinos, 21-6.
Heightened physical play by both teams continued into the second period but neither would manage to crack the score sheet. Sirard withstood an onslaught of shots, including nice chances by Drydn Dow, Davis Vandane, and Kodie Curran.
A solid effort by Lethbridge's Mitch Maxwell came close as the period drew to a close but DeSerres stayed with him to make the stop.
Third period action maintained the same fast pace of the first two and the Dinos offensive didn't let up, unloading shots from all over the zone. A sharp angle shot from Collins by the half wall took an unlucky bounce, hitting the inside of Sirard's pad, and trickled over the line giving Calgary the edge with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation.
Maxwell looked like he had DeSerres beat again but slid the puck wide of the open net. Off Maxwell's miss, Kevin King broke in on a breakawy but Sirard was equal to the task once again.
In the final minutes of play McMullen unloaded a hard shot from just inside the blue line that would sneak through traffic and through the legs of DeSerres, knotting things up at ones and forcing overtime.
Less than two minutes into extra time, and with a flurry of bodies in front of Sirard, King corralled a loose puck in the slot and sent it high glove-side, beating Sirard, for the win.
With this win, the Dinos improve to 17-0-1 (CW) and return to Calgary to host the University of Manitoba Bisons next weekend. Next up for the Pronghorns, now sitting at 2-16-2 (CW), is a two game series against the visiting University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
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