LETHBRIDGE – Heading into the final four weeks of the Canada West season, the Lethbridge Pronghorn women's hockey team finds themselves on the outside looking in at the playoff picture and this weekend begins a stretch where the Pronghorns face the top three teams in Canada West.
 
This weekend the Pronghorns host the conference leading and defending Canada West Champion UBC Thunderbirds. The Pronghorns and Thunderbirds 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 Canada West TV.
 
Earlier this season in Vancouver, the T-Birds swept the Pronghorns in two tight contests, beating the Pronghorns 2-1 and 1-0.
 
A Look at the Teams:
 
Heading into this weekend's match up the Pronghorns (3-13-2-2) trail the Mount Royal Cougars by eight points for the final playoff spot. While the Pronghorns sit at the bottom of the standings, they have been in every game this season, suffering 10 one-goal losses and their largest margin in defeat has only been three goals.
 
As a team, the Pronghorns have scored the second fewest goals in the conference with 22 but are tied for third in goals against, allowing just 35.
 
The Thunderbirds (12-4-2-2) come to Lethbridge riding a four-game winning streak to start 2018. They swept Regina last weekend but are in a fight for top spot in Canada West. Currently sitting first in the standings but ranked third in the U SPORTS top ten behind Manitoba and Alberta, the T-Birds have a one point lead over Manitoba and are four points ahead of Alberta.
 
Statistically, the T-Birds are ranked second in the conference in goals for and against, scoring 47 goals compared to 29 goals against.
 
Key Players:
 
Alicia Anderson has started 18 of 20 games this season for the Pronghorns and has given her team a chance to win every night. She sits third in save percentage in Canada West at 0.953%, while leading the conference in total saves with 612.
 
The trio of Alli Borrow, Tricia Van Vaerenbergh and Katelyn Breitkreuz lead the Pronghorns in scoring with seven points each. Freshman Borrow and Van Vaerenbergh each have four goals and three assists, while Breitkreuz leads the team in assists with six.
 
For the T-Birds, Mathea Fischer leads her team and is third in conference scoring with three goals and 11 assists.
 
Hannah Clayton-Carroll leads UBC and is tied for the conference lead in goals with 10.
 
Up Next:
The Pronghorns will head out on the road next weekend, traveling to Edmonton to face the Alberta Pandas.