After what was simply an unbelievable opening to the 2025 BioSteel U SPORTS Hockey Championship inside The Arena at TD Place, Day 2 on Friday didn’t disappoint.

With two OUA schools already through the Semi-Final round, the (#3) Concordia Stingers added their name to the list, with a win over the (#6) Moncton Aigles Bleus in the afternoon slot.

Though trailing after two periods of play, the Queen’s Cup champion Stingers didn’t go away in the third, getting two goals courtesy of Charles Savoie and Edouard Charron in the span of 37 seconds to take a 3-2 lead with a little under 15 minutes to go.

“We’ve been in that scenario quite often this year, honestly,” said Concordia Head Coach Marc-André Elément. “I just told the guys not to panic and to stick to the game plan. It’s experience, more maturity, and we lived that during the season.”

Nicholas Girouard capped off a Stingers’ win with an empty netter, sending the number three seed to the Semi-Finals on Saturday night with a 4-2 victory.

Concordia has been through the wringer of late, bussing home from Toronto after beating TMU in the Queen’s Cup on Sunday, before an optional skate on Monday. On Tuesday, they loaded up the bus once again, and headed to the nation’s capital, and are now through to the Semi-Finals.

“I’m happy the first one is done,” Elément said. “The first one is so important to get access to the medal rounds. I’m really, really happy.”

By a matching scoreline, the (#2) Saskatchewan Huskies beat the (#7) Queen’s Gaels on Friday night, following virtually the exact same script.

Saskatoon native, and former Vancouver Giant and Regina Pat Dawson Holt scored a pair for the Huskies, also picking up an assist on Ethan Regnier’s empty netter that sealed the deal.

“It’s a big one,” Holt said. “It’s always tough in these short tournaments. I thought we started a little bit slow, but found our way at the end of the first. We’re fortunate to find a way.”

On the shot clock, Queen’s held a decided edge, outshooting the Huskies 40-23, but it’s not something Saskatchewan is in any way concerned about.

“To be honest with you, the shots are the shots,” said Huskies Head Coach Brandin Cote. “We track scoring chances, and when we look at the Grade As, we had more. So people can look at the shots all they want. We found a way to win a game, and that’s what we have to do.”

By around four o’clock on Saturday, Saskatchewan will be back in the building for their clash with Concordia, but with a few fewer hours to work on their recovery. Food, hydration, and rest are all important now as they double down on their pre-tournament message.

“We talked about three game sevens in a row here,” Cote explained. “We’ve won 28 games this year, regular season and playoffs. We’ve talked about winning 30. We can’t win 30 tomorrow. We’re gonna do our best to win 29, and then we’ll worry about Sunday when we get there.”

Whether they stayed in the arena or went back to the hotel, the Concordia staff and players were tuned into the night game, trying to get as much of a scouting report as possible ahead of their Semi-Final matchup.

“We always try to focus on ourselves first,” Elément said. “But we’ll look at Saskatchewan, we watched that game. We’ll look at their tendencies and everything and we’ll get ready for Saturday.”

Saturday will be another packed day at TD Place. The (#4) TMU Bold will play the (#8) University of Ottawa Gee-Gees at 1 p.m., while Concordia and Saskatchewan will meet at 7 p.m.

Tickets for both of those games, and the Bronze and Gold Medal Games, can be purchased here.

Photo Credit: Tim Austen.