REGINA - Makena Kushniruk's goal late in the second period broke a tie and stood up as the winner as the University of Regina's women's hockey team finished their season with a 3-2 win over Calgary on Saturday night at The Co-operators Centre.

In a game where Calgary couldn't change its place in the standings regardless of the outcome, Kaylee Dyer got the Cougars on the board with a power play goal in the first. Hannah Pennell made a beautiful pass through the seam of Calgary's defence to Dyer. Her initial shot was saved, but Dyer was right there to jam home her fourth goal of the season.

The two teams broke out for a total of four goals in the second, starting with Calgary's Laura Jardin driving wide around a Regina defender and tucking the puck in to tie it up just over a minute into the frame for her first in the Scarlet & Gold.

Regina took the lead back on an individual effort from Paige Hubbard, who forced a turnover along the right boards before walking in and firing a shot past Calgary goalie Amelia Awad.

Calgary tied it up for second time in the period thanks to an Elizabeth Lang goal with five minutes to go, but the Cougars replied just 14 seconds later. Kushniruk jumped on a loose puck at the side of the net and buried it, giving the third-year forward her team-leading eighth goal of the season and what would turn out to be her second game-winning goal of the campaign.

Arden Kliewer and the Regina defence held strong to the one-goal lead in the final period. Calgary pulled Awad for an extra attacker with a minute to go and had the puck in the offensive zone for all of that final minute, but weren't able to find the equalizer.

Kliewer stopped 32 of Calgary's 34 shots to secure the win.

The Dinos now turn their attention to the postseason. After turning in a 12-14-2 regular-season record, Calgary earned the fifth seed in this year's Canada West playoffs. The quarterfinals get underway next Friday as the Dinos make a return trip to Saskatchewan to take on the fourth-seeded Huskies in a best-of-three series.

-UC-