LETHBRIDGE — The Lethbridge Pronghorns successfully defended the Nicholas Sheran ice against the Mount Royal Cougars, taking down the Calgary-based squad 3-1 on Friday night.
With seven players recording points to aid the 41-save performance by Alicia Anderson, the Pronghorns hold the momentum heading to Calgary on Saturday to complete the home-and-home series. Mount Royal's Zoe DeBeauville made 14 saves in the loss.
The Pronghorns got on the board early thanks to a long wrist shot from Tricia Van Vaerenbergh at the top of the far-side faceoff circle that found its way past a screened Zoe DeBeauville, giving the home side a one goal lead.
Both teams took some penalties following the midway point of the period, but Lethbridge put themselves behind an extra player, on which Mount Royal capitalized to tie the game.
After an Emma Bergesen shot came to rest behind Anderson after making the save, Breanne Trotter tucked the puck past the posts, knotting the game up at one. The Mount Royal tying marker was the last of the frame.
The next tally on the scoresheet took place eight minutes into the second period, after Madison Porter ended up on the receiving end of a hard body check in the neutral zone by Camryn Amundson.
On the ensuing powerplay, with Lethbridge set up in the offensive zone, Eryn Johanson's wrist shot deflected off of the left skate of Kianna Dietz in front of DeBeauville directly to an open Porter, who buried the one-time shot on an open net, restoring the Lethbridge lead.
Period two came to a close with only an exchange of holding penalties being listed on the game sheet, so the home side would lead by one heading into the final frame.
Period three saw very little action in its opening half, with a Mount Royal interference penalty – which the Cougars successfully defended – serving as the lone call in that span.
Things would get feisty nearing the final few minutes of the game, as Porter gets called for an accidental body check on a player passing through the zone, giving the Cougars a late power play opportunity. The home side managed to defend their zone, preserving their lead.
Not long after the penalty expired, Lethbridge rediscovered their late-game mojo as they found the back of the net once more to secure their lead. Alli Borrow sent Van Vaerenbergh up the ice behind the Cougars defenders with a clean breakout pass, giving the assistant captain plenty of room for a forehand-backhand deke to lift the puck past DeBeauville.
Mount Royal was not able to capitalize on the nearly three minutes of play with their goalie pulled to close out the game, and Lethbridge successfully defends home ice to open their home-and-home weekend series.
With the win, the Pronghorns move back to the top of the Canada West conference with 19 points (6-2-0-1) , leapfrogging the Calgary Dinos (17 pts, 5-4-1-0) and the UBC Thunderbirds (19 pts, 6-2-1-1) still holding Saturday's game in hand. Mount Royal remains in fifth place in the conference with 15 points (5-4-0-0) in the loss.
The Pronghorns and Cougars will close out their home-and-home series at the Flames Community Arena in Calgary on Saturday, puck drop is at 6:00 PM.
