Colby Wilson made 17 saves to backstop the Huskies to a win in Regina on January 7. Photo: Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards

By Ryan Flaherty

Sweep complete

Huskies down provincial rivals in Regina

Jan 7, 2024 | 10:52 PM

The new year is off to a good start for the Huskies women’s hockey team, who completed a weekend sweep of the Regina Cougars with a 2-1 win in the first half of a Canada West doubleheader in the Queen City on Sunday.

Sophie Lalor and Kennedy Brown scored in the third period and Colby Wilson made 17 saves to earn her second win of the season as the Dogs finished the season series against Regina with three wins in four meetings.

“I didn’t think we played particularly well Friday night in the win, didn’t play great in the first again (today). I thought we fought to find our game in the second somewhat. I thought the third was as close to our game as we had in the first half (of the season),” head coach Steve Kook said.

Fans could be forgiven for thinking the teams were playing their first game since the holiday break based on the way things began. It was a sluggish first period featuring just six shots on goal for each side, and only one or two decent scoring chances overall.

The Huskies began to find their game in the second but had trouble solving Cougars netminder Arden Kliewer, the ex-Saskatoon Star who always seems to play her best against the Huskies. But Wilson was also holding the fort at the other end of the ice, a positive sign for the backup netminder, who didn’t finish her previous two starts this season.

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“I’m so glad she played the way she did. The last two games that she did play, I had to pull her. It was a challenge for her to come into this game with this crowd and an event, and the way that we played in the first didn’t help her at all. She had a bounceback game today and got the player of the game for us,” Kook said.

After two periods of scoreless hockey, the Huskies finally broke through on a power play in the third and to no surprise it was their top scorer who provided the spark, as Sophie Lalor fired a wrist shot over the shoulder of Kliewer for her eighth goal of the season.

The Dogs doubled their lead less than a minute and a half later. Jessica Patterson forced a turnover as the Cougars were breaking out of the zone, giving Kenzie Lausberg an open lane to the goal. Lausberg was stopped but Brown came in late as Patterson was being checked into the net, and fired the puck past Kliewer for her second goal of the year.

Olivia Leggett would get that one back for the Cougars just past the 12-minute mark, but a lockdown defensive effort by the Huskies down the stretch, including a couple of big shot blocks by McKenna Bolger, ensured Regina would not complete the comeback.

“Definitely an important win. The second half is going to be really big for us leading into nationals so we want to get all the momentum we can get,” Bolger said.

The Huskies improve to 12-4-2 with the victory and now get to enjoy some home cooking as they will play their next four games at Merlis Belsher Place. Next up is a pair of dates with the Trinity Western Spartans, with the series opener scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. Both games can be heard on HuskieFAN.

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