Horns Thump T-Birds!!
 The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns used a balanced attack, utilizing seven different goal scorers, in a 7-2 dismantling of the UBC Thunderbirds Friday night in Lethbridge. The Horns were the first out of the gate at the 7:30 mark of the first period as Steve Zmudczynski (Thorold, ON, 3rd) fought off a UBC defender on a breakaway and snapped a shot high glove side on T-Birds goalie Francois Thuot (Montreal, QC, 3rd). The T-Birds would even the game up 4 minutes later as Matt Pepe (London, ON, 1st) would wire a slapshot past Horns goalie Scott Bowles (Penticton, BC, 2nd) low glove side. The Horns would take the lead into the first intermission as Tyler Stella (Blairmore, AB, 5th) would blow a slapshot of his own past the blocker of Thuot. The T-Birds outshot the Horns by a slim margin of 10-9 as the period would come to a close.The Horns added to their lead near the midway point of the second period as third year forward Gaetano Donato (Edmonton, AB, 3rd) collected a rebound on the rush and tap it in behind Thuot. Second year defenseman Curtis Cooper (Kamloops, BC, 2nd) would be the next Horn to get in on the scoring by taking advantage of a fallen Thuot, who was taken out by one of his own defenders. The goal marked the first of Coopers’ CIS career. The string of unusual goals would continue for the Horns when Kristofer Snopek (Cranbrook, BC, 1st) batted in a puck that was popped into the air off the goalies pads courtesy of a Kris Deines (High River, AB, 3rd) shot. Jason Roberts (Spiritwood, SK, 4th) hit the scoresheet next by taking a cross crease pass from Dustin Moore (Red Deer, AB, 2nd) and burying it past a down and out Thuot. The parade of goals was concluded by Austin Davenport (Okotoks, AB, 2nd), who finished a shorthanded 3 on 1 with Landon Jones (Edmonton, AB, 2nd) and Snopek picking up the helpers. Despite the large difference in the score, the Horns would only have a 13-10 shots advantage in the second frame.
The third period saw both teams change their goalies as Brandon Highton (Kitimat, BC, 3rd) would enter the game for the Pronghorns and Gerry Festa (Calgary, AB, 4th) took over between the pipes for the T-Birds. The only goal that would be scored in the final period would come courtesy of T-Birds center Jordan Beirnes (Lostowel, ON, 5th) who beat Highton with a wrist shot that was not seen by the Horns goalkeeper. The Pronghorns held a 13-8 shots advantage in the final frame and outshot the T-Birds 35-28 over three periods of play. With the victory the Horns move above the .500 mark with a record of 4-3 while the T-Birds slip to 3-4. The Horns will attempt to complete the weekend sweep Saturday night at Nicolas Sheran Arena. The puck will drop at 7:00pm. Box Score |
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