The University of Regina Rams playoff hopes suffered a devastating blow Saturday in losing to the University of Calgary Dinos.
The 23-20 loss in some of the windiest conditions Mosaic Stadium has ever seen, eliminated the Rams from any chance of hosting a playoff game this year.
It was a close affair that tested the new stadium’s engineering against winds of up to 55 kilometres per hour gusting up to 95 kilometres per hour in Regina.
Running back Marshall Erichsen racked up a career-best 169 yards rushing on 22 carries and quarterback Noah Pelletier added a touchdown score on a QB sneak.
The game featured more offence in the first half then anyone could have predicted with the Rams holding a 19-16 lead, propelled by a Jacob Tkachuk 71-yard-interception return touchdown, the fourth longest in Regina history. But the second half was a different story as the Rams failed to score so much as anything more than a rouge. Regina was so backed up in the fourth quarter, driving into the wind, the Rams elected to concede a safety touch that tied the game at 20.
With the heavy winds at his back, Dinos kicker Vince Triumbari nailed a 29-yard-field goal with one minute and three seconds left to give Calgary its first lead, one they would not relinquish. Though Calgary did come up short in trying to extend its lead in the final minute in what appeared to be a failed effort to seize the head-to-head tie-breaker in the season series, which the Rams managed to retain by virtue of Regina’s season-opening, eight-point win in Calgary.
At 2-4, the Rams are in a three-way tie at the bottom of the Canada West conference standings with the Dinos and Alberta Golden Bears as those three teams are in a fight for the last playoff spot.
Like the rest of the conference, the Rams have a bye week over Canadian Thanksgiving weekend then end up the season with critical match ups on the road against Saskatchewan and at home versus Alberta.
