Lethbridge - After a controversial weekend versus UBC that saw Friday night's double overtime win overturned by an appeal, the Lethbridge Pronghorn women's hockey team bounced back to take the second game of an important series. Now the 'Horns are looking to refocus and grab two wins from the Mount Royal Cougars.
 
Playoff implication-wise, the weekend is huge for both teams. The 'Horns hold the 6th and final playoff spot in Canada West, and the Cougars are just four points back of them in 7th. Two wins this weekend gets the 'Horns some distance from the Cougars and the U of C Dinos, who are just five points short of the 'Horns. For the Cougars, two wins would allow them to leapfrog the 'Horns into the playoffs.
 
Needless to say, some pretty desperate hockey is going to be played by both squads this weekend.
 
Last weekend at Nicholas Sheran Arena, UBC protested the 'Horns double-OT victory Friday night when officials incorrectly had the teams switch ends between OT periods. The teams replayed that overtime on Saturday, and UBC prevailed in a shoot-out. Pending review by Canada West, the 'Horns could potentially have two wins from last weekend, or a win and an OT loss.
 
The Cougars are coming into the weekend reeling, losing a 3-2 overtime heartbreaker and a lopsided 4-1 decision in Regina against the confusingly same-name Cougars.
 
This weekend, the 'Horns and Cougars will play a home-and-home series. The puck drops on the first game in Calgary at 7:00pm, and the teams will come back to Lethbridge to wrap things up on Saturday at 7:00pm.
 
The teams are similar across most statistical categories, so the games should be closely matched. The 'Horns take the edge on the powerplay, operating with a 15.3% success rate, good for 2nd in Canada West. The Cougars counter by having the better penalty kill, 5th in Canada West, killing 84.6% of all calls against them. They are also the least penalized team in the conference, with only 168 minutes thus far. That's an average of a meagre seven minutes a game.
The 'Horns are close, racking up 230
PIM, but still the 3rd least penalized team in the conference, and killing off 83.7% of their penalties, just behind the Cougars and 6th in the conference.
 
Kirsten Reeves put together a solid pair of games last weekend, scoring three goals to take over the team lead in points. She has eight goals and six assists for 14 points on the season.
 
Sarah Weninger leads the Cougars with nine goals, five assists for 14 points.
 
Next weekend, the 'Horns will do the home and home thing all over again, this time with the Cougars' crosstown rival, the University of Calgary Dinos.