REGINA, Sask. - The University of Regina men's hockey team fell 4-2 to the Saskatchewan Huskies in their Canada West home opener on Saturday.

Jesse Ross had a pair of powerplay goals for the Huskies, which also got markers from Machael Sofillas and Matthew Delahey.

Tyler Penny and John Sonntag (pictured) replied for the Cougars.

Box Score

The Huskies opened the scoring on the powerplay with 11:44 left in the first period, as Sofillas found himself alone in front of the net and capitalized off a feed from Craig McCallum. 

The Huskies continued to press following their first-period marker, but the momentum changed when Connor Cox took a penalty and put the Cougars on the powerplay. The Cougars had numerous opportunities on their first powerplay of the night, but a Cody Fowlie tip that went wide was the best chance they got.

Tyler Giebel and Sonntag had consecutive chances late in the period that looked like it would result in a sure goal for Regina, but the net came off and play was whistled before the Cougars could take advantage.

The Huskies were whistled for their third penalty of the first period with only 12 seconds left in the frame, and the Cougars were quick to capitalize in the second period. Less than a minute in, Ryan Dech put a slapshot on net. The puck was deflected a couple of times before Penny tapped it in from the slot. Dech and Tyler Henry were credited with assists.

The wild action continued less than a minute later as a Husky winger fired a shot that beat Lucas Gore but tipped high off the crossbar.

The Cougars rushed forward on the counter-attack and Fowlie found Sonntag on a partial breakaway. Sonntag fired a wrist shot to the top corner and the Cougars found themselves with a 2-1 lead.

The Huskies found themselves on the powerplay mid-way through the second, as Skyler Hladun was whistled for interference. Regina took advantage of an errant pass and Christian Magnus found himself on a shorthanded breakaway, but his shot was denied by Jordan Cooke. 

The Huskies pushed ahead on a counter-attack of their own after the Magnus breakaway, as Matthew Spafford was sent in alone. He beat Gore but the puck rattled off both posts. Gore lost track of the rebound and after a mad scramble in front, Ross was able to tap it in to even the score at 2.

Fowlie had a shorthanded breakaway chance late in the second but his backhand effort was tipped over the glass and out of play by Cooke's blocker.

The score remained tied 2-2 through the second, with the Cougars out-shooting the Huskies 23-14 through two frames.

Saskatchewan came out flying in the third period, forcing Regina back into their own end. The pressure paid off as a Delahey shot from the point beat a screened Gore to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead.

The Huskies added an insurance marker three minutes later on a two-man advantage, after Dech and Sonntag were whistled for penalties. Ross collected a shot off the end-board and potted the rebound before Gore could slide over to the post.

Gore made a total of 15 saves on 19 shots for the Cougars. Cooke finished with 31 saves for the Huskies.

The Cougars fall to 0-2-0 with the loss and Saskatchewan moves to 2-0-0.