The University of Regina's women's hockey team was tied 2-2 after 40 minutes with Saskatchewan, but allowed four third-period goals in a 6-2 loss to the Huskies on Saturday night at Rutherford Rink in Saskatoon.
 
The Cougars entered Saturday's game needing a win in regulation to finish in first place in the Canada West standings. But with the loss - and Alberta's 1-0 win over Mount Royal on Saturday - the Cougars end up in third place and will host Calgary next weekend in a best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series.
 
Rachel Johnson and Kaitlin Willoughby both scored twice for Saskatchewan, while Marley Ervine and Kennedy Harris added singles and Cassidy Hendricks made 29 saves to earn the win.
 
Kylie Gavelin and Bailey Braden replied for the Cougars. Their goals came in a span of five minutes in the second period and tied the game at 2-2 after Saskatchewan had opened the game with goals from Ervine and Willoughby in the first period.
 
Willoughby and Johnson scored in a span of 72 seconds early in the third period, putting Saskatchewan up 4-2. Johnson's second goal of the period, scored on the power play with under four minutes to go, essentially sealed the win for the Huskies. They added a late empty-net goal to finish off the scoring.
 
The Cougars will now prepare for their conference quarterfinal series against Calgary, which will be played beginning next Friday at The Co-operators Centre. The second game is set for Saturday, while the third - if it's needed - is scheduled for Sunday. All three games have a scheduled start time of 7 p.m.
 
NOTES: The Cougars and Calgary have only met in one postseason game in their history, with Calgary taking a 3-2 win over the U of R back on Feb. 11, 2000 in the Canada West semifinals … the Cougars won the season series over Calgary with wins in three of the four meetings between the two teams.