QUICKLY
Despite peppering MacEwan with 51 shots, the University of Regina's women's hockey team suffered a 4-1 road loss to the Griffins on Friday night at the Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• MacEwan burst out of the gates with three goals in the game's first seven and a half minutes. Allee Isley had both of the first two goals for MacEwan, pouncing on a rebound and jamming in the first one before scoring the second on a deflection. Jennifer Andrash added to the lead under two minutes later, hitting the left post on a breakaway but scoring when the Cougars cleared the puck off the skate of goalie Natalie Williamson and in.
• Julianne Girardin got one back for the Cougars late in the first on a 4-on-4 just after a MacEwan minor expired. Girardin walked from the left point into the high slot and ripped a shot high glove for her first of the season, cutting MacEwan's lead to 3-1 through 20 minutes.
• After a scoreless second period which saw Regina outshoot MacEwan by a 16-6 margin, the Cougars dialed up the pressure even more in the third. They ended up with a lopsided 20-2 advantage in shots on goal during the final stanza, but couldn't solve MacEwan goalie Mikayla Christmann. The Griffins scored the only goal of the third when Claire Hobbs put one into an empty net late in regulation.

POSTSEASON UPDATE

• The Cougars went into the weekend needing to make up three points on Manitoba to jump into second place in the East Division and earn the right to host a quarterfinal series. They needed a pair of wins from Saskatchewan for that to happen, but the Huskies lost 5-2 to the Bisons to lock Regina into a third-place finish in the division.
• Regina will travel to Calgary next weekend to play Mount Royal in a best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series. The first two games are scheduled for Friday night (7:00 MT) and Saturday night (5:00 MT) at the Flames Community Arena. If a third and deciding game is needed, it'll be played on Sunday night (5:00 MT).

NOTES

• Christmann, making just her fourth start of the season, finished with an eye-popping total of 50 saves for MacEwan in the win.
• Arden Kliewer came on in relief of Williamson and stopped all 11 shots she faced.
• Jordyn Blais drew the assist on Girardin's first-period goal.

NEXT UP
The two teams will close out the Canada West schedule on Saturday night at MacEwan. While all six playoff spots have been settled, the Griffins could surpass Saskatchewan for fourth in the East Division as MacEwan enters the day just a single point behind the Huskies in the standings.