LETHBRIDGE — It was not the start to the decade the Lethbridge Pronghorns had worked for, as they lose the second game of the 2020s to the Regina Cougars by a score of 3 – 1, and their first weekend series of the spring semester.
 
Cougars Captain Jaycee Magwood (1^st Star) and Defenceman Shaelyn Vallotten (2^nd Star) each netted a goal on four shots plus an assist on Saturday afternoon. Lethbridge's Tricia Van Vaerenbergh (3^rd Star) led her team with a game high seven shots on net, while Mila Verbicky scored her team's only goal of the game.
 
Jane Kish was solid once again for the Cougars, turning aside all but one of the 27 shots she faced in the win. Lethbridge's Alicia Anderson made 25 saves in the loss.
 
The Pronghorns opened the scoring for the second time in this series, this time on the power-play. Eryn Johanson kept the puck from rolling out at the half-boards, before Kyra Grieg found Mila Verbicky in the slot, finding an open lane to put the puck past Kish.
 
Despite the early marker by the home side, the momentum swung in favour of their visiting counterparts, as Regina saw most of the quality chances throughout the remainder of the period.
 
Just outside the final two minutes of the frame, the Cougars were gifted a power-play and successfully converted on the advantage. Tamara McVannel cycled the puck to Magwood, whose shot was saved by Anderson, and Shaelyn Vallotton collected and buried the rebound to tie the game up at ones, heading into the first intermission.
 
Regina struck early on in the second, as Paige Hubbard carried the puck through the neutral zone and took a shot that went just wide of Anderson. Magwood, already in the area, collected the loose puck and wrapped it around the Lethbridge net to bury her team's second of the game.
 
Play got chippy in the middle of the frame after Tricia Van Vaerenbergh was assessed a Goaltender Interference penalty for running into Kish. After killing off this penalty, teams got involved in a scrum behind Kish's net that resulted in a Lethbridge power-play, which Regina killed off.
 
Inside the final 20 seconds of the period, Brook Palmer received a wonderful pass from Kyra Greig but wired the wrist shot off the post and out from behind Kish. That was the final chance of the frame, as the Cougars held a one goal lead after 40 minutes of play.
 
Despite Lethbridge holding their first shots-on-goal lead in the third period, the Cougars found a way to score for a third and final time inside the final minute of the game. Merissa Zerr's snap shot from the high slot bounced off the boards back to her in front of Anderson, and she roofed it over the Lethbridge netminder to seal the game for the Cougars.
 
With the regulation win, the Regina Cougars (4-10-4-0, 20 pts) move to within a regulation win of the Lethbridge Pronghorns (6-8-1-3, 23 pts) for the final playoff spot in the Canada West conference.
 
The Cougars will head to Vancouver next week to take on the UBC Thunderbirds (7-6-1-3, 26 pts), while the Pronghorns head East to Saskatoon to face the Saskatchewan Huskies (8-5-1-3, 29 pts).