The University of Saskatchewan Huskies fall 2-0 to the No. 1-ranked Concordia Stingers at the U Sports championship semifinal in Charlottetown, PEI on March 26, 2022. (Huskie Athletics)

By Daniella Ponticelli

Sask. vs. New Brunswick for bronze

Concordia Stingers shut out Huskies in U Sports semifinal

Mar 26, 2022 | 8:12 PM

It was a tough battle Saturday for the University of Saskatchewan against the top seed in the 2022 U Sports women’s hockey Championship.

The fifth-seed Huskies won their quarter-final Friday to face the No. 1-ranked Concordia University Stingers in the semifinal.

After a scoreless first period, the Stingers opened scoring 3:10 in to the second on a goal by Audrey Belzile, helped by Marie-Pascale Bernier and Olivia Hale.

Thirteen minutes later, Concordia added a power play marker tipped in by Maria Manarolis, assisted by Rosalie Bégin-Cyr, for what would be the final score of 2-0 for the Stingers.

“That is probably the most skilled team we would have seen this year for sure,” said Huskies head coach Steve Kook post-game.

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“The thing with us is that when we play well, we put pressure on teams. I didn’t think that we did that until the third period.”

Huskies goaltender Camryn Drever earned Saskatchewan’s player of the game, making 37 saves.

Stingers netminder Alice Philbert, who earned Concordia’s player of the game, faced six more shots on goal Saturday compared to Friday — with the Huskies posting 20 shots on the night.

Kook said he thought the team’s penalty kill was good, crediting the defensive coaching of Brian MacGregor.

In Concordia’s quarter-final against UPEI, the Stingers notched three power play goals and one short-handed for a 7-0 shutout win.

Saskatchewan’s semifinal defeat places the Huskies in the bronze-medal game against the second-seed University of New Brunswick Reds.

Puck drops 2:30 p.m. EST, 11:30 a.m. CST on Sunday.

“You get to this tournament and if you’re one of the teams still playing Sunday — it doesn’t matter what colour medal — the game is going to be hard,” Kook said.

“Tomorrow is the last game of the year for everybody. And our game in particular, one team gets a medal, the other doesn’t.”

UNB was shut out 4-0 by the No. 6 seed Nipissing Lakers in the other U Sports Championship semifinal.

The Lakers face the Stingers in the gold-medal final at 6 p.m. EST.

The host UPEI Panthers take on the UBC Thunderbirds in the consolation final Sunday morning.

HuskieFAN’s Daniella Ponticelli will have the final broadcast of the women’s hockey 2021-22 season on the HuskieFAN app and at huskiefan.ca.