By Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

After rough start to the season, Pronghorns men’s hockey team sitting in a playoff spot heading into holiday break

Dec 5, 2017 | 8:43 AM

LETHBRIDGE – Following a disastrous 1-8-1-0 start to the season thanks to injuries and some bad bounces, the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team won five of six games heading into the holiday break.

In their final game before the break, the Pronghorns scored four unanswered goals to defeat the University of Calgary Dinos 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night (Dec. 2) in Calgary.

The win improved the Pronghorns record to 6-9-1-0, good for a fifth-place tie with the Mount Royal Cougars.

Pronghorn head coach Spiros Anastas says it’s hard to explain how proud he is of his players following this stretch.

“We had nine forwards and five defencemen for two games and they just never quit. We’ve recovered from a poor start and battled some adversity, I think that we’ll be ready to make an impact in the second semester,” Anastas said, adding this may be the proudest he’s been of this team since becoming the Head Coach.

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After dropping a 4-1 decision to the Pronghorns the previous night in Lethbridge, the Dinos were looking to salvage a series split on the back end of this home-and-home series.

They got off the start they wanted, opening up a three-goal lead in the second period before Connor Sanvido buried the first goal for the Pronghorns that would ignite the comeback.

Sam McKechnie scored early in the third period to cut the Dino lead down to 3-2, and then Pronghorn captain Mitch Maxwell as he’s done all season came through in the clutch scoring on the PP with under 10 minutes to go in the game to tie things at 3-3.

In overtime, Maxwell would hookup with Sanvido for the game winning goal to cap the comeback and send the Pronghorns into the break a happy bunch.

Leading the way in the first half for the Horns was Mitch Maxwell, posting seven goals and 12 assists in 15 games.

Maxwell’s line mate Justin Valentino currently sits second in team scoring, with six goals and seven assists in 15 games.

The only other player in double digits for points is rookie defenceman Dallas Valentine, who’s sitting on two goals and eight assists in the first half.

In goal, Garret Hughson finished the first half in net for all five of the Pronghorn wins bringing his record to 6-6 on the year to go along with a 3.43 goal against average and a .907 save percentage.

Now the Pronghorns will enjoy the break before returning to action, at home against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, January 5-6.