SASKATOON, Sask. - Friday evening at Griffiths Stadium, the Huskies fought to keep their playoff hopes alive against the visiting Mount Royal Cougars, however the Dogs were handed their ninth loss of the season thanks to a pair of late game Cougar goals and losing by a final score of 2-1. 
 
In the opening half, both teams managed to get shots, but struggled to find scoring as Saskatchewan and MRU combined for nine total shots, but neither side could convert for the game's first goal.
 
MRU thought to have taken an early 1-0 advantage in the 12th minute when a shot from Cougars Jonathan Walter found its way past Huskies keeper Jaron Slopinski. However, after a brief discussion the referees determined that MRU was offside on the play.
 
The Huskies best chance in the first half came in the 36th minute off the foot of Daler Tokhirov, but the 3rd year midfielder's shot rang off the post, keeping the score knotted nil-nil at the half.
 
In the 58th minute, the Huskies struck first thanks to a goal from midfielder Luke Mackie. On a corner kick from Malcolm Rektor, MRU keeper Aidan Dumoulin failed to corral the ball, allowing Mackie to bury the misplay for his first goal of the season and giving the Dogs a 1-0 lead.
 
MRU responded by pushing the attack and earning several opportunities before Timon Haetscher eventually found the equalizer in the 71st minute. The first-year German forward scored his first USPORTS career goal after a Cougars rush upfield allowed him to rifle home a shot from inside the box.
 
As the match wore into the late stages, a Cougars through-ball forced Robert Mackay to hold  the splitting MRU attacker, resulting in a yellow card for Mackay and a Cougars free kick from 25-yards out.
 
On the ensuing kick, Jaron Slopinski made a brilliant diving save, but the rebound ended up on the foot of Felix Liebich who hammered in his third goal of the season putting MRU in front 2-1.
 
The Huskies fought to tie the game in the 85th minute after a cross into the box from Ilyich Gharahmadani found the head of Mason Ogoke, but the header hit the crossbar and stayed out allowing MRU to clear.
 
With their playoff hopes on the line, the Huskies last gasp came on a corner kick in the final seconds of added time, but the ensuing kick was knocked away and cleared, cementing the win for the Cougars.
 
The result moves MRU's record to 6-2-5 and into a tie for 2nd place as they fight for higher seeding in the Prairie Division.
 
Unfortunately, for the Huskies the loss drops their record to 3-9-1 and officially eliminates the Dogs from playoff contention.
 
UP NEXT
The Huskies will look to finish strong at home in their last game of the season against the Calgary Dinos. Get your tickets at huskietickets.com or catch all the action live on CanadaWest.tv.