Lethbridge – Coming off a solid weekend against the defending U SPORT Champions, the Lethbridge Pronghorns face another tough task this weekend on the road, traveling to Winnipeg to face the nationally fourth ranked Manitoba Bisons.
 
The Pronghorns and Bisons will hit the ice in Winnipeg Friday night at 7:00pm and Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm. Both games will be streamed live on www.canadawest.tv.
 
"We are happy with last week's results versus Alberta but expect University of Manitoba to be an equally strong opponent," said Pronghorn head coach Michelle Janus. "Our players will need to be prepared to match speed in all three zones and compete in all one-on-one battles in open ice and small space."
 
"Our strengths in the last few games has been in our goaltending and teams' ability to forecheck well, eliminating our opponent's time and space with the puck."
 
Last season, the Bisons swept the season series winning all four games.
 
A look at the teams:
 
With four points last weekend, the Pronghorns (2-5-2-1) moved within four points of the fifth-place Regina Cougars. Through 10 games, the Pronghorns have allowed the second fewest goals against with 15 but have also scored the second fewest goals with 13.
 
The 'Horns penalty killing has been exceptional thus far, sitting tops in Canada West at 93.2%, while the power play is ranked sixth at 7.7%.
 
The Bisons (7-3-0-0) enter the weekend as the hottest team in Canada West, winning their last five games and sit only one point out of first place. Manitoba sits as the top offensive team in the conference, scoring 27 goals in 10 games.
 
Their power play is also ranked first in Canada West sitting at 27.7%, but their penalty killing is ranked second last at 81.8%.
 
Players to watch:
 
Alicia Anderson was exceptional again last weekend and continues to give the Pronghorns a chance to win every game. She stopped 90 of 93 shots she faced last weekend and leads the conference in save percentage at 0.960%. She also holds a 1.53 goals against-average.
 
Freshman Alli Borrow scored her team leading third goal last Friday and is tied for the team lead in points with Tricia Van Vaerenbergh and Jodi Gentile with four each.
 
The Bisons have the top two scorers in Canada West in Jordyn Zacharias and Venla Hovi. Zacharias enters the weekend with five goals and four assists, while Hovi also has nine points with two goals and seven assists.
 
In the crease, Lauren Taraschuk leads the conference in goals against-average at 0.94 and has recorded shutouts in two of her last four games.
 
Next Up:
 
The Pronghorns will return home next weekend to host the Regina Cougars before closing out the first semester action with a home-and-home with the Calgary Dinos.
 
 
 
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