Huskies advance to semifinals with 1-0 overtime win over York

Mar 17, 2017 | 3:15 PM

FREDERICTON — It’s down to the final four at the U Sports men’s hockey championship.

Levi Cable scored at 1:01 of overtime to lift the Saskatchewan Huskies to a 1-0 quarter-final win over the No. 3 York Lions on Friday.

The sixth-ranked Huskies will face the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in Saturday’s semifinal. No. 2 StFX downed the No. 7 McGill Redmen 4-1 in Friday’s other quarter-final to earn its place in the final four.

Cable, who had four shots in the game, picked up the puck off the boards and broke in on the net to beat York goalie Mack Shields.

“It was a nice bounce, gave us a 2-on-1, I shot low glove and it trickled across the line,” said Cable. “I was excited, and I had thoughts of losing last year.”

Jordan Cooke stopped 24 shots for the win. Shields made 31 saves for York.

“We had a great season, and we don’t want to end this way,” said Shields. “It is hard right now. We have lots of young guys, and we want to be back here, next year, among the top eight teams in the country.”

In the second quarter-final of the day, Matt Needham, Holden Cook, Michael Clarke and Mark Tremaine supplied the offence for the X-Men while Chase Marchand stopped 21 shots for the victory.

Christophe Lalonde replied for the Redmen, who got a 31-save outing from Jacob Gervais-Chouinard.

The No. 8 Acadia Axemen and the No. 5 UNB Varsity Reds will play in Saturday’s other semifinal. Acadia knocked off the top-ranked Alberta Golden Bears for its spot in the semis.

The championship game is set for Sunday.

The Canadian Press