Saskatoon, SK – The STFX X-Women lost a close 3-1 game to the host Saskatchewan Huskies in the consolation semifinal game of the GFL U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship at Merlis Belsher Place Saturday.

Despite the loss, X-Women head coach Ben Berthiaume commented that he thought his team put forth an excellent effort in the game. "We played hard from start to finish, especially the third period, we had a really good third. Throughout the game I thought we did a really good job of moving the puck and the effort level was there."

The X-Women generated a few early shots on net to start the game but Huskies goaltender Camryn Drever was sharp in the crease.

At the other end STFX netminder Amaya Giraudier was up for the task as she turned aside a shot from Kennedy Brown five minutes in.

The period remained scoreless as the X-Women outshot the Huskies 14-8.

The second period belonged to the Huskies as they scored three goals in just over six minutes, including two on the power play.

Kelsey Hall opened the scoring 1:13 into the period while on the player-advantage as she found the puck and skated into the slot and beat a screened Giraudier with a quick shot.

Sophie Lalor then scored just over two minutes later as she wristed a high shot off the glove of Giraudier. The Huskies went ahead 3-0 as Brooklyn Stevely scored at 6:06 on a low shot from the point while on the power play, again through a screened play.

STFX had their own power play opportunity midway through period but couldn't convert a goal. Their best chance came when Ireland McCloskey hit the post with five minutes left.

The X-Women did close out the period with a nice goal off the stick of Ashlyn Garnett as she broke in alone on Drever and scored on a high shot over the glove with only 45 seconds left to play.

The Huskies outshot the X-Women 10-5 in the middle period as they held the 3-1 lead.

The third period was another scoreless frame, though both teams had their chances to score. Bronwyn Boucher hit the crossbar for Saskatchewan  a few minutes in.

STFX pressed to get back onto the game but Grever made some key saves down the stretch for the Huskies to keep her squad in the lead. STFX pulled Giraudier from the net with two and a half minutes left to play in favor of the extra attacker but to no avail.

Final shots were 38-21 in favour of the X-Women who are now eliminated from further competition at the national event.

When asked about what learnings his young squad can take away from the tournament, Coach Berthiaume noted that he really liked how his first year student-athletes competed. "It didn't seem like the nerves bothered them which is a huge thing moving forward. We have a lot of first year athletes in their first national tournament and it was a great experience."

In terms of the graduating senior student-athletes, Berthiaume said "You build your program on those seniors' backs and we really appreciate everything that they have done and what they've given to the X-Women program. Four and five years of strong work ethic from the spring right up until today, they put a lot of time and effort in."

Garnett earned player of the game honours for STFX, while Stevely was the player of the game for Saskatchewan.

The Huskies will move on to face the winner of the UNB-UBC game in the consolation final Sunday at 11:00 am GMT.

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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics

GFL U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship Schedule
All times local GMT time

Quarterfinals:
G1 Thurs, March 14:  STFX 1 vs. Waterloo 6
G2 Thurs, March 14:  Concordia 4 vs. Saskatchewan 0
G3 Fri, March 15:  Montréal 4 vs. UBC 2
G4 Fri, March 15:  Toronto 2 vs. UNB 1

Consolation Semifinals:
G5 Sat, March 16:  STFX 1 vs Saskatchewan 3
G6 Sat, March 16 at 1pm:  UNB vs UBC

Semifinals:
G7 Sat, March 16 at 4 pm:  Waterloo vs Concordia
G8 Sat, March 16 at 7 pm:  Montreal vs Toronto

Medal Round:
G9 Sun, March 17 at 11 am, Consolation Final:  Saskatchewan vs Winner G6
G10 Sun, March 17 at 3 pm, Bronze Medal:  Loser G7 vs Loser G8
G11 Sun, March 17 at 6 pm, Gold Medal: Winner G7 vs Winner G8

Seed, Team, Standing, Regular Season Record, Playoff Record

1.  Concordia Stingers (RSEQ champions, 25-0, 4-2)
2.  UBC Thunderbirds (CW champions, 24-4, 4-2)
3.  UNB Reds (AUS champions: 21-7, 5-1)
4.  Waterloo Warriors (OUA champions, 18-10, 5-1)
5.  STFX X-Women (AUS finalists, 21-7, 3-4)
6.  Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA finalists, 19-9, 4-3)
7.  Montréal Carabins (RSEQ finalists, 13-12, 3-3)
8.  Saskatchewan Huskies (hosts, 19-9, 1-2)