University Cup: Saskatchewan Huskies on to national semifinal
Saskatchewan now advances to the U-Cup national semifinal Saturday night against the Ontario University Athletics champion Concordia University Stingers.
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Phew.
Another slow start by the University of Saskatchewan Huskies nearly cost them Friday night at the University Cup national men’s hockey championship tournament in Ottawa.
The Dogs fell behind at the 1:42 mark of the opening period and then trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes, needing three unanswered goals for a 4-2 comeback win over the Queen’s University Gaels, from Kingston, Ont., in single-knockout quarter-final play.
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Saskatchewan now advances to the U-Cup national semifinal Saturday night against the Ontario University Athletics champion Concordia University Stingers. Game-time is 7 p.m. ET (5 p.m. Sask. time).
“Obviously going down one early is tough — it’s hard to get back in the game, kind of, after that.,” said Huskies player of the game Dawson Holt.
“It’s definitely not something you want to do, but I’m really proud of the group we have in there to find a way to come back and get a few and get back in the game.”
The Huskies avoided a clean sweep by OUA teams in this year’s quarter-finals as the other semifinal will feature the host Ottawa Gee-Gees against Toronto Metropolitan University Bold.
The Bold advanced after out-lasting the Canada West runner-up Mount Royal University Cougars in a game that was decided in the fifth overtime period, and eighth period overall, on a goal by former Saskatoon Blades Spencer Shugrue.
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan continues to struggle with slow starts, offensive zone time and puck possession through the playoffs.
“I thought we looked a little bit tentative at the start,” said Huskies head coach Brandin Cote. “It looked like we were skating in quick-sand. I don’t know if we were feeling it out a bit or what. I thought the second was really our best period. We really pushed the pace on them, we found a way to get a couple on the power play. In the third, I thought, in the third, maybe we sat back a little too much at times, a little bit too conservative. We’ll definitely talk about that. We’d like to go after it a little more but, overall, when we had possession of the puck, we caught them on odd-man rushes and our speed definitely showed..
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“Roddy made some big saves. A lot of the stuff was from the outside, but, at the end of the day, we have to find a way to show up a little earlier and have more possession with the puck and we’re going to do that against Concordia.”
Holt, a medical student, tallied twice to lead the Huskies, who also got a power play goal from captain Justin Ball and an empty-netter from Ethan Regnier with 10 seconds remaining.
Canada West goalie of the year Roddy Ross made 38 saves in the win.
Overall, Queen’s outshot Saskatchewan 40-23. The Gaels also held a 36-27 edge in the faceoff circle and blocked 12 shots compared to five for the Huskies.
The Dogs were 2-for-4 on the power play, scoring on a 5-on-3 advantage in the first period.
The Gaels capitalized on one of two power plays.
On Saturday, you can expect an even tougher match against Concordia.
“They’re a pretty high-flying team — they’re more of an offensive, skilled team,” said Cote. “If we plaiy physical against them, I think that’s going to be something we’re going to focus on. We have to be disciplined — they have a good power play. They’ve got some guys who can put the puck in the net. I don’t think they’re as big and physical as these (Gaels) guys. These guys really tried to get in front of us and slow us down, but we’re going to have to be on our toes. Our puck management has got to be really good and we’re going to try to keep the puck on our sticks as much as we can.”
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“We know they’re a really good team, obviously — they won their league — so it’s going to be a tough match-up,” added Holt. “We’ve been in tough matches before and we’re definitely going to focus on us and focus on doing the things that we know make us successful and leave it all out there.”
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