Horns fall in OT to MRU
By Woodard, Dale on January 25, 2020.
Dale Woodard
Lethbridge Herald
The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team picked up a well-earned point.
The second one went to the Mount Royal Cougars who battled the Horns to double overtime before the Cougars netted the winner in Canada West play Friday night at Nicholas Sheran.
Still, Pronghorns head coach Murray Nystrom was pleased with the effort his squad put in to nab a point and sit at 5-12-2.
“Great game,” said Nystrom, whose team remains in eighth place in the Canada West, four points back of the Regina Cougars and five back of the UBC Thunderbirds, who hold the final playoff spot. “We just said in the coaches’ room and we were sharing with the players, too, that it was a hell of a game. We competed like crazy. If we competed like that in every game this year we might be in a different situation. I think it just shows how much our players have grown and what we’re right now. It would have been nice to get that extra point, certainly, but we’ve got to get on a bus tomorrow and go up to Calgary and go at them again and see what happens. But I thought we played really well.”
Landon Gross and Michael Clarke scored for the Pronghorns. Ryley Lindgren opened the scoring for Mount Royal and Keegan Iverson tied the game at 2-2 late in the second period and added the winner 29 seconds into the second three-on-three overtime.
Pronghorns goaltender Jack Burgart made 41 saves, while Cougars netminder Riley Morris stopped 24 of 26 shots.
“I thought he was exceptional and I thought what Jack did was he made saves when needed and kept us in a position where we had a chance to win the game even when things got a little tilted at times, as did their goalie,” said Nystrom. “I thought in the mid part of the game he had to come up with some big saves to keep us at bay,” said Nystrom. “Jack has improved week-by-week. Matt Weninger, our goalie coach, does a great job with our guys and Jack’s game has evolved quite nicely.”
The rematch goes tonight at 6 in Calgary.
In women’s play Friday in Calgary, the Horns snapped a six-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Cougars.
The win puts the Horns at 7-12-1-3 and within two points of UBC for the sixth-and-final playoff spot.
The Pronghorns got first-period goals from Brooklyn Palmer and Eryn Johanson. The Cougars battled back to tie it, but Lethbridge’s Tallon Stephenson scored the winner midway through the third.
Pronghorns goaltender Alicia Anderson made 23 saves in the win.
The Horns and Cougars complete the home-and-home series tonight at 7 at Nicholas Sheran Arena.
19-18
