Hockeysaurs pick a fight with the wrong beast

By Crystal Wong

It was a less than pretty week for the Dinos men’s hockey team as the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns not only out-played them on the ice, but attracted 700 more fans than the Dinos in a home-and-home series Oct. 14-15.

After winning both of their games against Regina the previous week, the Dinos went into the series atop the Canada West standings.

Sadly, only a handful more than 100 fans showed up to the Dinos’ home opener on Friday. The energetic ‘Horns came out with a bang, scoring three times on goaltender Scott Talbot in the first period.

It was already 4-0 when Dino Tyrel Lucas scored an even-strength goal after Jarret Lukin won a face-off. The ‘Horns responded with one of their own and went into the second intermission up 5-1.

Despite the lack of offense from the Dinos in the first two periods, they wouldn’t go down without a fight. A minute after Paul Gentile shot the puck into the net, making the score 5-2, Lukin put in a highlight reel two-on-one goal, giving Dinos fans some hope.

He would add another goal later in the period to pull the team within one. However, their efforts came too late; Lethbridge’s Charlie Mattersdorfer put the game out of reach by scoring in the dying seconds of the third.

The Dinos travelled to Lethbridge on Saturday for the second game of the home-and-home series. Being watched by over 800 Lethbridge fans, they came out with much more energy.

After the Dinos successfully killed the first three Lethbridge powerplays, Gentile opened scoring in the first period. It was a back-and-forth game–every time the Dinos scored, the ‘Horns responded with a goal.

In the third period, with the score knotted at three, Brett O’Malley found the puck after a scramble in front of the ‘Horns’ net and put it in, once again giving the Dinos an edge. But, like in the last two periods, Lethbridge evened the score at 16:33, forcing an extra period.

Lethbridge was the dominant team in overtime, with five shots on goal to the Dinos’ two. In the end, overtime solved nothing; the game ended in a 4-4 tie and the Dinos managed to sneak out of Lethbridge with one point.

The Dinos are now tied for first in the standings with five points. The classic battle of Alberta takes place this week as the Dinos face the University of Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton Fri., Oct. 21 and travel home for a re-match at the Father David Bauer Area Sat., Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.