University of Saskatchewan Huskies celebrate a 4-1 win over the University of Regina Cougars at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon on Feb. 4, 2023. (Daniella Ponticelli/HuskieFAN)
Final regular-season home game Sunday

Saskatchewan stops losing skid with 4-1 home win over Regina

Feb 4, 2023 | 9:08 PM

A big return after a bye week and a big night on the stats sheet for University of Saskatchewan women’s hockey Saturday.

The team rallied with a 4-1 win over the University of Regina Cougars at Merlis Belsher Place to stop a four-game losing skid.

Huskies forward Paris Oleksyn opened scoring 7:35 into the first period with her second goal of the season. The effort was noteworthy for second-year McKenna Bolger, who recorded her first assist of the season, off a pass from Sophie Lalor.

Less than two minutes later, Jasper Desmerais delivered the eventual game-winner at the doorstep of Cougars’ netminder Arden Kliewer.

It’s the Saskatoon product’s second goal of the season, assisted by Kara Kondrat and Kelsey Hall.

“It was a team effort tonight,” Kondrat said after the game.

“There were quite a few girls on the scoresheet tonight, it almost seemed like every line was producing points, which was nice to see.”

To cap the opening frame, second-year defenseman Brooklyn Steveley put away her first goal of the season to put the Huskies up 3-0 at 13:47.

The power play marker was assisted by Isabella Pozzi and Mal Dyer.

Saskatchewan was able to maintain a three-goal lead after 40 minutes, despite the Cougars’ Hannah Pennell scoring on a power play 10:58 into the second period, helped by Jenna Merk and Olivia Leggett.

Less than two minutes later, Sara Kendall made it four for the Huskies, assisted by Larissa Bohlken and Kate Ball.

Saskatchewan special teams went five-for-six on the penalty kill and one-for-eight on the power play.

Huskies netminder Camryn Drever had her 15th start of the season, turning away 19 shots for her eigthth win of the season.

The fourth-year from Edmonton was out of the lineup the last four games to represent Canada, and ultimately bring home gold, at the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games.

Kliewer, Regina’s second-year goaltender, made 27 saves on the night.

Still in Canada West race for home playoff series

Saturday’s regulation win earned the Huskies their first points since Jan. 7, moving up to 29 points for fifth-place in Canada West.

Saskatchewan is one-point behind the fourth-place University of Calgary, and have a game in hand on the Dinos. As it stands, the two teams are most likely to face each other in the conference quarter-final best-of-three series on Feb. 17-19.

The Highway 11 rivalry rematch takes place at Merlis Belsher Place Sunday at 2 p.m.

A trophy ceremony will follow the game to crown the winner of the inaugural U-Prairie Challenge between the University of Saskatchewan and University of Regina. Young fans are welcome to join players for a skate after the festivities.

Listen to all Huskies women’s hockey games live and archived on the HuskieFAN app, and at huskiefan.ca.

daniella.ponticelli@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @dponticelliTV

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