REGINA, Sask. - The University of women's hockey team made a late surge but ran out of time as the Saskatchewan Huskies took a 4-3 win at The Co-operators Centre on Saturday night.
Emily Upgang scored twice for the Huskies while Bailee Bourassa and Kaitlin Willoughby also found the net. Jordan Kulbida and Jaycee Magwood each had three point efforts for the Cougars including a goal apiece, and Emma Waldenberger also scored.
The Cougars were plagued with penalties on Saturday night, killing off four in the first period. The penalty kill took the home team out of rhythm as the Huskies outshot Regina 16-2 in the opening frame. The Cougars surrendered eight powerplay opportunities on the night and the Huskies capitalized on two of them.
Bourassa opened the scoring just over five minutes into Saturday's contest, sneaking out from the left corner and beating Morgan Baker with a high shot to the short side. Kennedy Harris assisted on the goal as Bourassa picked up her second marker in as many nights.
A goal early in the second period gave the Huskies some breathing room as Upgang converted a wrap around at the 2:21 mark. Kulbida gave the Cougars some life midway through the period with a top shelf goal off an assist from Magwood, but another goal from Upgang restored the two-goal lead before the end of the second.
Kaitlin Willoughby put the Huskies up 4-1 with a long rush into the Cougar zone and a quick wrist shot over the shoulder of Baker. The Cougars made it interesting late, as Magwood made a nice move to put one past Chloe Marshall with 2:28 left and Waldenberger ripped a high wrist shot home at the 19:53 mark, but it was too little too late as the Huskies earned the split.
Baker made 29 saves in goal for the Cougars, while Marshall also stopped 29 shots at the other end of the rink.
The Cougars are at home again next weekend, playing host to Mount Royal University for a pair of games. MRU dropped their opener at home against Alberta but took to the road and earned a 2-1 win to pick up the split. Friday's contest between the Cougars and MRU is slated for 7 p.m. while Saturday's rematch is an afternoon affair with puck drop at 3 p.m.
The Huskies will travel to Lethbridge next weekend to meet up with the 0-1-1-0 Pronghorns.