CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos Men`s Hockey team was defeated Friday night 2-1 by the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns at Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary.

"We`re disappointed in the loss; the team is short on confidence and we didn`t quite get what we wanted,” commented head coach Scott Atkinson following the game. "[We] had a bad weekend last weekend and that showed in our confidence tonight."

The first and only Dinos goal came late in a penalty filled first period from forward Brett O'Malley with assists from Joel Eisenkirch and Travis Friedley. O'Malley found himself a one on one situation in the Pronghorn end, beating Lethbridge goalie Scott Bowles with a slapshot to the top corner. O'Malley earned the games second star for his efforts.

The Dinos let the penalty filled game slip from their grasp after the Pronghorns capitalized on a second period powerplay. Jason Roberts caught a rebound off Dino goalie Dustin Butler's blocker side and put it in to tie the game; Tyler Stella and Andrew Marshall earned the assists.

With only two minutes left in the third period, the Pronghorns broke the 1-1 tie with a shot from first star of the game Ryan Potruff. Potruff found an open net courtesy of a beautiful Jason Roberts pass in front of the Dino net as he notched the game winner.

All told there were 36 penalty minutes during the game with 20 of those to Dinos players and 16 to Pronghorns.

“[On the] Powerplay we had lots of chances and no conversion,” Coach Atkinson continued.

Atkinson's words were true as the Dinos showed no sense of urgency, failing to capitalize on two separate five on three opportunities lasting 2:00 and 1:27 respectively. Lethbridge had their own five on three which led to their first goal shortly after the first penalty expired.

The scoring slumps of Dinos leading scorer Torrie Wheat and point leader Reid Jorgenson also continued as both went without a point. This may be a product of Pronghorn goalie and third star of the game, Scott Bowles, who posted an impressive 37 save night with Dustin Butler managing 24 saves at the other end.

This result evens out both teams' records at 5-6-0 so far on the season. This leaves both teams struggling near the middle of Canada West and tied for fourth spot going into the second half of this weekend's matchup.

The Dinos get one more shot at the Pronghorns on Saturday night in Lethbridge. 

-UC-