Courtesy: Carter Berge-Huskie Athletics

By Wray Morrison

Cougars easily defeat U Sask

Bisons tie Huskies for third and final playoff spot in Canada West, east division

Jan 17, 2026 | 9:54 PM

24 hours after an inspiring performance against the east division leading Mount Royal Cougars, the USask Huskies were dominated in a 5-1 loss to MRU on Saturday night at Merlis Belsher Place. “I thought we mentally quit”, said Huskie head coach Steve Kook.

After Allee Gerard opened the scoring for the Cougars in the first period the visitors put the game out of each in the middle frame. Kiana McNinch, Sydney Benko and Breanne Comte scored in a 6:04 span to lift Mount Royal to a 4-0 lead. “It was five people on different pages”, Kook said. “When you don’t know you are covering and don’t know where the puck is going because you’re not calling for it, you know how that is going to end up.”

Veteran Sara Kendall put the Huskies on the board in the first minute of the third period before Jerzey Watteyne scored her ninth of the season for the Cougars with six minutes remaining. Cougar goaltender Katherine Holan made 20 saves for her 6th win of the season while Colby Wilson made 42 saves in the Huskie net.

Saskatchewan picked up a point in the standings from the weekend series after suffering a 3-2 Friday night overtime loss to the Cougars. The Huskies now have company for the third and final playoff spot in the east division as the Manitoba Bisons downed the Trinity Western Spartans 4-1 on Saturday.

USask and Manitoba both have 19 points with eight games remaining in the regular season. Kook said he did talk about the standings with his team during the second intermission. “It matters how you finish and it matters how you manage your mental status”, he said.

Season wrap up

HuskieFAN partners hosts USask women's hockey team

Mar 31, 2026

St. Mary's pulls out OT win over USask

Huskies eliminated at University Cup

Mar 20, 2026

University Cup preparations continue

Roulette named U SPORTS men's hockey rookie of the year

Mar 18, 2026

Thanks to back-to-back wins in Saskatoon, Mount Royal has now opened a five-point lead over Calgary for first place in the east division.

The Huskies visit the Alberta Pandas on the January 23^rd-24^th weekend in Edmonton. Both games can be heard on the free HuskieFAN app.

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wray.morrison@pattisonmedia.com

X: @wraymorrison