REBEKAH LESKO and COLE GUENTER

The men’s squad finished their final regular season games with a sweep of the Pronghorns last weekend.

The Huskies women’s hockey team took charge of their destiny in back-to-back home games against the Lethbridge Pronghorns at Rutherford Rink in what was the final weekend of the regular season Feb. 8 and 9.

Picking up three of a possible four points against the Pronghorns, the Dogs were able to move past the Manitoba Bisons in the standings and gain sole possession of fifth spot in the Canada West rankings.

The Dogs opened the weekend on Feb. 8 with a 4-3 shootout loss. The Wooster twins, Cara and Cami, made a dynamic duo in the match, combining for all three of the Huskies goals. Cami tallied the first two, then Cara scored with 30 seconds left to tie the game and send the game to a shootout.

The single point they earned for the shootout loss meant the Dogs’ chances of improving in the standings rode on on Saturday’s rematch.

The Huskies needed to win and have Manitoba lose to Regina to move into fifth spot. The Huskies did their part, earning a 3-0 victory over the Pronghorns, and Regina followed followed suit with a 3-2 win over Manitoba.

Second-year Huskie Sara Greschner banked two goals in the win after opening the scoring in the second period by burying a rebound that bounced off of Lethbridge goalie Shauntelle Pearson. Kandace Cook would add to the Huskies’ momentum by scoring Saskatchewan’s second goal midway through the second period.

Greschner picked up the team’s third goal and sealed the game on an empty netter with just seven seconds left in the match.

Huskies’ rookie goaltender Cassidy Hendricks stopped all 33 shots she faced on the night, picking up her third shutout of the season.

Regina beat Manitoba 3-2, propelling the Huskies into fifth spot.

Saskatchewan finishes the season with an 11-12-5 record and 27 points. They will travel to Edmonton to take on the fourth-place University of Alberta Pandas in the Canada West quarter-finals. The best-of-three series is set to take place on Feb. 15, 16 and, if necessary, 17. The winner will move on to the conference semifinals.

Manitoba, who finished with 26 points, will battle against the third place University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the other quarter-final.

Calgary and Regina finished first and second, respectively. Both teams will have a bye into the semifinal round.

Over in Lethbridge, the Huskies men’s hockey squad finished their final regular season games with a sweep of the Pronghorns to earn second spot and a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Despite outshooting the Pronghorns 56-19 in Friday night’s match, the Huskies could only manage a 1-1 tie after 60 minutes. Finally, in the extra frame, Huskies captain Brennan Bosch figured out Lethbridge’s netminder Dylan Tait to win the game 2-1.

The following night the Huskies proved their dominance even more convincingly, winning 6-2. Derek Hulak, Matthew Delahey, Jordan Peddle and Andrew Bailey each netted singles goals in the win while Kenton Dulle potted both the first and last goals of the game.

Saskatchewan finished the season with a 19-8-1 record and 39 points.

Manitoba will host Regina in a quarter-final game while the University of British Columbia will travel to Calgary in the other.

The University of Alberta Golden Bears finished in first place with 47 points. The Bears and the Huskies will take next weekend off and wait for the results to see who they will face in the semifinals.

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Photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf