Best in the west: Huskies win men’s hockey, women’s basketball conference titles

Huskies won Canada West titles in both men's hockey and women's basketball over the weekend. (Source: Canada West TV)

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team will be raising another banner on campus.

The Huskies came out on top 3-0 over the Mount Royal University Cougars in a tight game three in front of a sold-out crowd of over three thousand on Sunday night at Merlis Belsher Place.

Amid an electric atmosphere, both teams engaged in a back-and-fourth battle that was won by the goaltenders, as the Huskies’ Roddy Ross and the Cougars’ Shane Farkas shut the door for the first two periods.

Despite having two power plays and unleashing 24 shots in the first two periods, the Cougars could not solve Roddy Ross.

Meanwhile, Shane Farkas was also pitching a shutout after 40 minutes against a high-powered Huskies offence.

But the Huskies would finally break the scoreless tie midway through the third period, when Vince Loschiavo fired a shot that just snuck into the top corner of the net to bring the home side a 1-0 lead.

Saskatchewan would strike again almost four minutes later. The puck came to Ethan Regnier’s stick right in front of net and he put it home, giving Saskatchewan a 2-0 lead.

Ty Prefontaine would get an empty net goal with just over a minute to go to seal it for Saskatchewan.

With the win the Huskies earn their 12th Canada West men’s hockey title.

Both the Saskatchewan Huskies and the Mount Royal Cougars have qualified for the U-sports Nationals, which begin March 21st in Ottawa.

Meanwhile on the court, the Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team capped off their season with a conference title after downing the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday night.

The UBC Thunderbirds took control in the first half, notching a 37-35 lead over the huskies heading into intermission.

The Huskies took the lead in the third quarter, when Andrea Dodig fired a three-point shot to make it 40-39 for Saskatchewan.

From there, the Green and White took control and never looked back. They went on to defeat the Thunderbirds 71-59.

Gage Grassick had 31 points in the win for the Huskies, while Maya Flindall added 13.

Saskatchewan ended the season winning 21 straight games to capture the conference title.

They will now head out to Vancouver for the U-sports women’s national championship in Vancouver starting Thursday.

Huskies women also reached a national podium over the weekend, with the track and field team earning bronze overall in the U Sports Championships in Windsor, Ontario.