Lethbridge – Having been officially eliminated from post-season contention last weekend, the Lethbridge Pronghorn women's hockey team (4-18-0) heads out on the road, looking to play spoiler versus the CIS ninth ranked UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver.
 
The 'Horns and T-Birds will hit the ice at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre Friday and Saturday night at 7:00pm PST.
 
Entering the home stretch of the Canada West season, the Thunderbirds (13-5-4) are in the midst of a battle for playoff positioning. With six games remaining, the T-Birds are tied with the Calgary Dinos for third place but are only three points behind the Manitoba Bisons for second place and a first round bye in the playoffs.
 
The 'Horns and Thunderbirds spilt their series earlier this season in Lethbridge with the T-Birds winning a tight 2-1 game to open the series and the 'Horns returning the favour the next night with a 3-1 win with an empty netter.
 
The lowest scoring team in the conference, the 'Horns were shutout for the eighth and ninth time of the season last weekend in their losses to the Calgary Dinos and have only scored 24 goals in 22 games this season. The Thunderbirds have more than doubled the Pronghorns output with 58 goals scored this season, which ranks them fourth in Canada West.
 
The 'Horns have allowed 72 goals against compared to the 43 the Thunderbirds have allowed.
 
Jenae Culp and Sadie Lenstra lead the 'Horns in scoring with 10 points apiece, while Culp leads the team in goals with six.
 
Between the pipes, fifth-year goaltender Crystal Patterson is second in the conference in minutes played with 1294:46 and leads the conference in saves with 716. She has played all but 20 minutes this season for the 'Horns.
 
For the T-Birds, 2013-14 Canada West first team all-star Tatiana Rafter leads the attack with nine goals and 11 assists, while Nicole Saxvik is tied for the team lead in goals with Rafter.
 
In the crease, the Thunderbirds have used four goaltenders this season. Samantha Langford has carried the bulk of the load, with 16 appearances and holds a 1.87 goals-against-average and a 0.930 save percentage. Former Canadian National team member Danielle Dube has started three games this season, winning all three games and has only allowed two goals against.
 
The 'Horns will return home next weekend to host the Saskatchewan Huskies in their second last weekend of the season.
 
-30-