Leanne Mylymok (right) scored the Dogs’ tying goal in the playoff loss.

The Regina Cougars and Saskatchewan Huskies women’s soccer teams finished the 12-game regular season only one point apart. The teams played each other in a quarter-final playoff game Oct. 28 and were almost evenly matched once again. Requiring overtime and eventually a shootout before the Regina Cougars were declared the winners of the 2-1 game.

Regina’s Meagan Cormier got the first point of the game when she beat Huskies netminder Marissa Struik in the 19th minute. Cormier dribbled the ball between two Huskies defenders before booting it into the left corner of the net to give the homeside Cougars a 1-0 lead.

The teams switched sides in the second half and the Huskies got the wind at their backs. The Dogs had several chances to score early in the second half but were stymied by Regina’s keeper Stephanie Possberg.

As the game hit the 90 minute mark, the score was still 1-0 and the official allowed four minutes of extra time. The Huskies, desperate for a goal, played aggressively in the dying minutes. It payed off when Erica Parenteau tipped a crossed ball to a wide-open Leanne Mylymok in front of the net. Mylymok sent the team into an excited frenzy by kicking the ball into the back of the net to tie the game.

Two 15-minute overtime frames solved nothing and the teams went into a four-round shootout.

After a scoreless opening round, Kayla McDonald put Regina ahead in the second round while Possberg stopped rookie Erica Hindmarsh’s shot for the U of S. In the third round Mylymok scored, but her effort was immediatley matched by the Cougars’ Adriana McCullough.

In the fourth and deciding round of the shootout Regina’s Molly Glass scored, leaving all eyes on Huskies third-year midfielder Jenna Newton. Newton had a solid kick to the right side but Possberg, with a diving save, won the game for Regina and sent the Cougar faithful rushing onto the field.

For Regina, the win marks the first time the team will advance to the Canada West Final Four and the club’s first post-season victory since the program’s inception in 2001.

The Cougars will now head to Langley, B.C. for the Final Four tournament and a semifinal game against Trinity Western University Nov. 2. The winner of that will advance to the conference championship against the winner of the UBC-Victoria game. The championship game will be played Nov. 3.

With a goal in the last minute of regulation play, the Huskies men’s soccer squad clinched a spot in the Canada West post-season, defeating the Lethbridge Pronghorns 2-1 on Oct. 27 at Griffiths Stadium.

Tied at one with the clock ticking down, Huskies striker Scott Myrah sent the ball to his team’s leading scorer Brett Levis. Levis tucked the ball left of the ’Horns keeper Tyler Boast in the 90th minute for the Huskies win.

The following day was the final regular season match for both teams. The Huskies and ’Horns played to a 1-1 draw on a frigid and windy afternoon in Griffiths Stadium Oct. 28.

After a scoreless first half, both teams found the scoresheet in the second 45 minutes of play. Lethbridge scored in the 57th minute off Matt Medoruma’s cleat while Saskatchewan potted the tying marker eight minutes later when Wilson Ntigne set up Brandon Holmes, who sent the ball past the Pronghorns keeper.

Saskatchewan finished the regular season 6-5-4 and move past the Calgary Dinos to finish the season in second place in the Prairie Division.

The Huskies will now travel to Edmonton for the Canada West Championship tournament hosted by the Alberta Golden Bears Nov. 1-4. They must win every game at the tournament to be crowned conference champions. Their first game is against the Victoria Vikes Nov. 1.

—
File photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf