Box Score Game Summary

Facing the very club it needs to catch to have a shot at the Canada West playoffs, the University of Regina's women's hockey team erupted for five third-period goals and scored a 6-3 win over the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday night at the Sherwood Ice Sports Arena.

Trailing 3-1 after the second intermission, Paige Wheeler and Stefanie Banilevic scored less than a minute apart early in the third period to knot the game at three. The teams stayed tied until the late in the game, when Stefany Rankin's power play goal put the Cougars ahead 4-3 with under five minutes remaining.

Kelsie Graham put the Cougars up by two just 56 seconds after Rankin's goal, and Rae-Lynn Somogyi's second goal of the season with a minute and a half remaining on the clock put the game away for Regina.

The win improves the Cougars' record to 5-13-1 on the season and puts them just four points behind UBC for the fourth and final postseason berth in the conference. The loss drops the Thunderbirds' record to 7-11-1.

Rianne Wight opened the scoring for the Cougars with under two minutes left in the first, but UBC replied with two goals in the final 1:12 of the opening stanza. Lisa Bonang and Kim Coates scored for the Thunderbirds, giving them a 2-1 lead at the first intermission. Coates scored again for UBC early in the second period, and the score would stay 3-1 in the visitors' favour until the Cougar flurry in the third.

Lisa Urban made 12 saves for the Cougars in the win, while UBC netminder Melinda Choy was beaten six times on 30 shots.

The Cougars scored four of their six goals on the power play and ended up 4-for-10 with the man advantage, while the Thunderbirds were held scoreless during their four power play opportunities.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at the Sherwood Ice Sports Arena, with game time scheduled for 7 p.m. A regulation win for the Cougars would put them just two points back of UBC, while a loss would make it extremely difficult for the U of R to qualify for the postseason.