Eoin Colquhoun, Pronghorn Athletics
Lethbridge – In the final conference game of the season, the Lethbridge Pronghorns and Mount Royal Cougars battled to a scoreless draw.
Both teams had already booked their ticket to the playoffs, but positioning was still up for grabs. If the 'Horns won they would have finished in third and a win by the Cougars would have given them a second place finish and a home playoff date.
With the tie, the 'Horns finish their most successful regular season with a 8-6-2 record and despite having the win streak stopped at six today, they did extended their unbeaten streak to 7 games, while the Cougars finish third in the division with a 8-4-4 record.
The first good chance of the match went to the Pronghorns as Nico Passquotti played a nice ball to a streaking Stephen Primeau, looking for his fifth of the season but his shot hit the side netting.
Playing in his final home game, Kendell Wiens also had a quality look in the first half, he received a short pass off a free kick and turned and fired nicely but his shot was directly at Cougar keeper Kamil Zielinski, who made an easy save.
Mount Royal came dangerously close to breaking the deadlock just past the midpoint of the half, Stuart Rushbrook's long range shot just slid wide of the far post.
'Horns leading scorer Chris Rushworth also had a good chance to hit the scoreboard, beating his defender twice and going to his left but his shot rang off the post.
At the half, the 'Horns held a 9-4 shot attempt advantage but Wiens was the only one to hit the net in the half.
In the second half the teams traded opportunities early. Cougar Ryan Clancy had a half-volley in the 'Horns penalty area sailed over the net before a Wiens header rattled off the post for the 'Horns.
Cougar Kyle Houston looked to be all alone with a clear shot but 'Horns defender Blake Pipke recovered to block Houston's shot.
Zielinski then made a spectacular save off a Primeau strike, diving to his left to deflect the ball over the crossbar.
The 'Horns continued on the attack, Passquotti's shot from top of the box was stopped by Zielinski and then Wiens was robbed twice point blank on the rebound.
Cougar leading scorer Cody Cook found himself all alone in the 85th minute but a fast charging 'Horns keeper Matt Vandervoort forced Cook to chip the ball over the net.
The 'Horns had consecutive corners in injury time but couldn't capitalize and settled for a scoreless draw.
At the final whistle the 'Horns led statistically with 25 shot attempts to the Cougars 12 and the 'Horns also held the advantage for shots on goal six to three.
Next weekend, the 'Horns, who enter the playoffs as the conference's hottest teams, will travel to Vancouver to face the first place UBC Thunderbirds, while the Cougars will also head west and take on the Trinity Western Spartans in Langley.