Lethbridge – After officially being eliminated from post-season contention last weekend, the Lethbridge Pronghorn women's hockey team will conclude the home portion of the Canada West schedule this weekend and for the third week in a row face a nationally ranked opponent in the seventh ranked Alberta Pandas.
 
The 'Horns and Pandas will hit the ice at Nicholas Sheran Arena Friday night at 7:00pm and Saturday afternoon at 3:00pm. Both games will be streamed live on www.canadawest.tv.
 
Saturday afternoon will also mark senior day with captain Amber Yuha, Jenae Culp, Sarah Spence, Chelsea Kasprick and Aislinn Kooistra playing their final game at Nicholas Sheran Arena.
 
With two losses last weekend against the top ranked UBC Thunderbirds, the Pronghorns (3-17-1-3) had their playoff hopes dashed and will look to play spoiler. Heading in the other direction, the Pandas (13-4-4-3) have won seven games in a row and are in a fight for second place with the Manitoba Bisons. Both enter the weekend with 50 points.
 
A look at both teams statistically
 
The Pronghorns are the lowest scoring team in Canada West, scoring 31 goals in 24 games, and while the Pronghorns have allowed the second most goals against with 78, they held the top ranked team to only one goal last Friday and only four total in two games. Both specialty teams for the Pronghorns are ranked seventh in Canada West (PP – 9.8%, PK – 79.7%).
 
After their sweep of Mount Royal last weekend, the Pandas are the hottest team in the conference riding a seven game winning streak. The top ranked defensive team, the Pandas shut out the Cougars last weekend and have only allowed 31 goals against this season. The Pandas have scored 59 goals this season, which is ranked third in Canada West.
 
Players to watch
 
Tricia Van Vaerenbergh leads the Pronghorns in scoring with five goals and four assists. Jodi Gentile and Jenae Culp each have seven points. Goaltender Alicia Anderson has been the busiest goaltender in the conference, making 730 saves this season. The next closest goalie in Canada West has made 472 saves.
 
For the Pandas, Alex Poznikoff sits second in conference scoring with 24 points and leads Canada West in goals with 13. Not surprisingly with the team allowing the fewest goals against, the Pandas have to top two ranked goalies in goals-against-average (GAA). Lindsay Post has seen action in 16 games and has a 1.25 GAA, while Dayna Owen has the top GAA at 1.15 in nine appearances.
 
The Pronghorns will put a wrap on the 2016-17 season next weekend, travelling to Saskatoon to face the Saskatchewan Huskies.
 
 
 
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