Huskies men’s hockey team set for UBC rematch in Canada West semis

Talk about an unsung hero rising to the occasion for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

Entering Game 2 of Canada West quarter-finals on Saturday night, third-year forward Keaton Sorensen had only managed to find the back of the net once all season.

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That changed 10:15 into overtime at Merlis Belsher Place, hopping on a rebound to bury the series-winning goal against the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

“It’s for sure riding a high a lot after,” Sorensen said.

“I guess just get to the dirty areas there, I did. It’s a good play by (Raphael Pelletier) to pass it up to (Landon Kosior). He got it through and they made it easy for me just to have a chance at a shot like that.”

Sorensen’s heroics on Saturday completed the opening round sweep for the Huskies, marking the first time the Golden Bears had lost in quarter-finals in program history.

“This year it’s been kind of up and down for him offensively and just being able to find his way,” Huskies head coach Brandin Cote said.

“He’s been real patient, he’s worked hard and he’s earned his opportunity.”

Now the path to repeating as Canada West champions will roll through the UBC Thunderbirds for the Huskies, advancing to the conference’s semi-final series which begin Friday in Vancouver.

It will be the second year in a row the Huskies and Thunderbirds will meet with a spot in the Canada West final on the line, with Saskatchewan coming out on top with a Game 3 victory last winter.

“Teams are out to get you and we’ve had that,” Cote said.

“We’ve experienced that throughout the year. It’s hard to win, it’s hard to repeat, it’s hard to go back-to-back. Our group has been really mature in our approach.”

The Huskies dominated their opening game of the series against Alberta with a 5-0 victory on home ice, punctuated by a 30-save shutout from goaltender Nolan Maier.

A familiar face to Saskatoon hockey fans after a record-setting stint with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, Maier joined the Huskies mid-season after three and a half years playing professionally in the American Hockey League and ECHL.

He said the few weeks of action following the holiday break helped him prepare for the intensity of Canada West playoffs.

“It was a little bit of an adjustment,” Maier said. “Anytime you join a new group and a new team, there’s always that feeling out process. The guys have been nothing but great and I feel like the transition has been really good.”

Stopping 58 of the 60 shots he faced in the quarter-final series, Maier is coming off being named Canada West men’s hockey player of the week. Cote has liked what he’s seen from the WHL’s former winningest goaltender of all-time.

“He’s just a calming presence back there,” Cote said.

“We know he’s going to give it everything he’s got there and he was huge for us in that first round.”

Splitting their only two-game series of the season in mid-January, the Huskies and Thunderbirds will clash in a meeting of U Sports powerhouses for conference semi-finals. Entering playoffs, UBC earned the third-seed nationally while the Huskies were ranked fifth across Canada.

That’s set up a best-of-three showdown in Vancouver this weekend with a date against either the Mount Royal Cougars or Calgary Dinos in the conference title series on the line.

According to Maier, there’s been a sense of desperation the Huskies have been playing with which he thinks will bode well ahead of their next series.

“One of our guys took a slap shot to the head the other day,” Maier said. “That just describes our back end and our whole team in general. We’re willing to do whatever it takes.”

Game 1 between the Huskies and Thunderbirds will go at 9 p.m. on Friday from the UBC campus.