MHKY: Huskies advance to round two after OT winner over Cougars
February 19, 2023
The Huskies will keep on howling.
In stunning fashion, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies defeated the Mount Royal University Cougars in the series-deciding game three to move on to the Canada West Men's Hockey Semi-Final.
Huskies forward Justin Ball opened the scoring for the away team. A defensive miscue by Mount Royal left Ball wide open on the far side. Jared Dmytriw fed a pass over to Ball for a one-timer powerplay goal.
The Cougars quickly evened it back up. On Mount Royal's own powerplay, Riley Sawchuk wired an Ovechkin-esque slapshot from the left circle and past Roddy Ross.
"We tried to really simplify our game," said Sawchuk. "Trying to get pucks in, pucks out; not trying to make too many fancy plays."
Sawchuk struck again to give the Cougars the lead; this time shorthanded. Nolan Yaremko raced to the puck after the Cougars cleared their zone. Yaremko got to the puck first and fed a perfect pass to Sawchuk who shot it quickly past Roddy Ross. The play was familiar of what the duo has done all year.
Just as the Cougars had a few minutes earlier, the Huskies quickly even the score back up. Justin Ball found space and fed a pass over to Liam Keeler for another one-timer goal to make it 2-2.
"Both teams were capitializing on powerplays, they got a shorthanded goal and we responded well," said Brandin Cote, Huskies head coach. "The momentum shifted both ways but as the game went on I thought we wore them down."
For the next two periods, opposing goalies Shane Farkas and Roddy Ross would shut the door. 60 minutes of regulation time left the fierce competitors tied and overtime was needed.
It wasn't long until we found a winner.
Jared Dmytriw's inital shot beat Farkas but not the crossbar to keep the play going. Jaxan Kaluski picked the puck up, curled around the net and fired a wrist shot past Farkas to win the game. Kaluski's shot sent the Huskies into jubilation and advanced them to a semi-final date with the first place University of Calgary Dinos.
"I had plenty of chances and knew one was coming if I was in the right spot," said Kaluski.
The Cougars felt disappointment after a tough way for their season to come to a close.
"We had higher aspirations. We're disappointed," said Cougars head coach Bert Gilling. "I feel bad for the graduating players. Over the course of the year we showed how good we could be. It's a tough way to go."
Bert Gilling gave credit to a hard fought game from his group.
"Shane Farkas was outstanding and gave us a chance to get to the second intermission and regroup. We're expecting a little bit better pushback in the third but couldn't quite there," explained Gilling.
The Huskies will now prepare for a semi-final series back in Calgary against the Dinos.
"We like how we match up against [Calgary]," said overtime hero, Jaxan Kaluski. "It'll be a quick turn around here but we're excited and looking to keep the momentum going."
Our depth has helped us, we're healthy and we're starting to believe. We plan on playing a long time, yet," said Brandin Cote.
In stunning fashion, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies defeated the Mount Royal University Cougars in the series-deciding game three to move on to the Canada West Men's Hockey Semi-Final.
Huskies forward Justin Ball opened the scoring for the away team. A defensive miscue by Mount Royal left Ball wide open on the far side. Jared Dmytriw fed a pass over to Ball for a one-timer powerplay goal.
The Cougars quickly evened it back up. On Mount Royal's own powerplay, Riley Sawchuk wired an Ovechkin-esque slapshot from the left circle and past Roddy Ross.
"We tried to really simplify our game," said Sawchuk. "Trying to get pucks in, pucks out; not trying to make too many fancy plays."
Sawchuk struck again to give the Cougars the lead; this time shorthanded. Nolan Yaremko raced to the puck after the Cougars cleared their zone. Yaremko got to the puck first and fed a perfect pass to Sawchuk who shot it quickly past Roddy Ross. The play was familiar of what the duo has done all year.
Just as the Cougars had a few minutes earlier, the Huskies quickly even the score back up. Justin Ball found space and fed a pass over to Liam Keeler for another one-timer goal to make it 2-2.
"Both teams were capitializing on powerplays, they got a shorthanded goal and we responded well," said Brandin Cote, Huskies head coach. "The momentum shifted both ways but as the game went on I thought we wore them down."
For the next two periods, opposing goalies Shane Farkas and Roddy Ross would shut the door. 60 minutes of regulation time left the fierce competitors tied and overtime was needed.
It wasn't long until we found a winner.
Jared Dmytriw's inital shot beat Farkas but not the crossbar to keep the play going. Jaxan Kaluski picked the puck up, curled around the net and fired a wrist shot past Farkas to win the game. Kaluski's shot sent the Huskies into jubilation and advanced them to a semi-final date with the first place University of Calgary Dinos.
"I had plenty of chances and knew one was coming if I was in the right spot," said Kaluski.
The Cougars felt disappointment after a tough way for their season to come to a close.
"We had higher aspirations. We're disappointed," said Cougars head coach Bert Gilling. "I feel bad for the graduating players. Over the course of the year we showed how good we could be. It's a tough way to go."
Bert Gilling gave credit to a hard fought game from his group.
"Shane Farkas was outstanding and gave us a chance to get to the second intermission and regroup. We're expecting a little bit better pushback in the third but couldn't quite there," explained Gilling.
The Huskies will now prepare for a semi-final series back in Calgary against the Dinos.
"We like how we match up against [Calgary]," said overtime hero, Jaxan Kaluski. "It'll be a quick turn around here but we're excited and looking to keep the momentum going."
Our depth has helped us, we're healthy and we're starting to believe. We plan on playing a long time, yet," said Brandin Cote.