CALGARY - Following a huge two-game sweep of the Alberta Golden Bears, the University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey sqauad will look to keep the ball rolling as they begin a home-and-home set against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.

The Dinos will host the first game on Friday night at Father David Bauer before traveling to Lethbridge for the next night.

The season didn't start off as nicely as Calgary would have liked. The Dinos were blanked in their first two contests of the year and then split a series against UBC in Vancouver. Entering last weekend's games with a 1-3-0 record, the Dinos knew their games against Alberta were pivotal. Cory Pritz scored the overtime winner on the Friday night for a 4-3 win. The next night, heroics came from Walker Wintoneak with under three minutes remaining for a 2-1 decision. So after a slow start to the year, The Dinos find themselves with a very manageable 3-3-0 record and their first top-10 ranking of the season at No. 10 – while for the first time in recent memory, the Golden Bears are unranked nationally.

Lethbridge comes into this weekend after taking one of two games against the University of Saskatchewan. Much like the majority of the teams in the Canada West, the Pronghorns find themselves in a log-jam in the standings to begin the year. Lethbridge has five points so far this year and sits in sixth place. One more point though could mean a tie for fourth with two other teams, including Calgary.

In six regular season games last season against the Pronghorns, the Dinos won five. Two forwards that played key roles in that record for Calgary were Reid Jorgensen and Brock Nixon. Against Lethbridge, Jorgensen put up eight points, including four goals. Nixon has similarly impressive numbers as he posted seven points in those six games, including five goals.

One player the Pronghorns have depended upon early this year is the play of Scott Bowles. The fourth-year Bowles is the only goalie in the Canada West who has played in all of his team's games this season. Although Bowles' numbers don't jump off the page, he is often the difference in games which Lethbridge comes out on top. In his 10 wins last year, Bowles allowed two goals or less in eight of them.

Look for Calgary to counter with Dustin Butler for at least one game against Lethbridge. The reigning CIS Goalie of the Year stood tall while playing in both games against Alberta, combining for a save percentage of .926 for the weekend. Butler was 4-0 last year in four starts against the Pronghorns.

Despite their struggles against the Dinos during last year's campaign, look for the Pronghorns to battle hard. Last weekend they were able to hand a No. 5-ranked Huskies team their first loss of the season. One player to watch will be Taylor Gal. Born in Lethbridge, the second-year forward is following a 20-point campaign last season with seven points through six games this year. Gal has a solid supporting cast that includes team captain Dustin Moore, Nicholas Hotson and Winston Day Chief.

Calgary will make their second trip to Vancouver this year next week when they will take on the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds for two games on Nov. 4-5.

Lethbridge returns to action on Nov. 5-6 when they host the University of Alberta Golden Bears for two games.

-UC-