REGINA -- It didn't come easy, but the Regina Pats were able to extract some measure of revenge on the Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday night at the 100th Memorial Cup.

The Pats skated to a 6-5 win in front of a sell out crowd at the Brandt Centre to end the Broncos' season and send the host team into the semi-finals.

"We knew what was on the line, we knew these guys knocked us out and they're a really good team and we came out hungry," said Pats captain Sam Steel, who tied a Memorial Cup record with five assists in the win.

The Broncos had eliminated the Pats in seven games in the first round of the WHL Playoffs and that definitely played into how this game ended up playing out. Regina seemed to have an extra step as they looked to keep their dream of a home Memorial Cup win alive, while striking a blow to their rivals.

Head coach John Paddock said the Pats have played a focused game so far during this tournament.

"For us as coaches and the guys that were here last year, we felt we should have won the league last year and we were short-changed, so this has been smouldering in these guys for a year and we were told that we were the best, but sometimes the best teams don't win, so they've had something to prove for over a year," said Paddock.

Swift Current becomes another WHL Champion casualty during recent Memorial Cup history. The Western League champion has now lost 10 straight games at the tournament, including an 0-9 record over the past three years.

While they didn't get the results that they were looking for this week, Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin said they remain proud of the season and run that they put together.

"The fatigue factor might have set in a bit for us in this tournament and five extra minutes and we would have got it," said Gawdin.

"This is a tough trophy to win, but we're still champions and we won that, so definitely can't hang our heads for the season, it's a successful season, but it just didn't play out in the end."

The game featured plenty of momentum swings with the Pats holding leads of 2-0, 3-1, 5-2 and 6-4 at different points throughout the back-and-forth affair.

Nick Henry opened the scoring with a power play goal 7:36 into the game and he'd finish with a hat trick in the win for the Pats. The line of Henry, Steel and Cameron Hebig combined for four goals and ten points.

"Sam is a special player, I've played a lot with him over the past few years and we have good chemistry built up and adding Cam to that is a real nice addition and its been a lot of fun," said Henry after the win.

There was a few stretches of utter chaos during the game.

With Regina leading 3-1 late in the second period, Henry scored a shorthanded goal to extend the Pats' lead, but Beck Malenstyn came right back only 23 seconds later with a power play goal to make it a two-goal game again.

Only 1:02 after that, Henry struck again, finishing off another great feed from Steel for his hat trick goal and making it a three-goal game going into the third.

The final ten minutes of regulation was filled with twists and turns. It started with Bryce Platt scoring for the first time in months to put Regina up 5-2 with under ten minutes to play.

The Broncos wouldn't go away quietly however with Aleksi Heponiemi scoring his first of the tournament with 5:38 left in the game. Then 2:49 later, Giorgio Estephan pulled Swift Current to within one.

A power play goal by Libor Hajek with 1:37 to play looked like it again sealed the win for the Pats, but Gawdin scored his second of the game only 47 seconds later to again make it a one-goal game.

The final push ended up falling just short for the Broncos.

"We were close, it showed a lot about the character of our team, we didn't quit for a second," said Gawdin. "Just the way that things went in this game, it was a lot of ups and downs, but we stuck with it and we were that close."

The Pats will now turn their focus to the Hamilton Bulldogs in the semifinal on Friday. Regina beat Hamilton, 3-2, in the tournament opener last Friday.

"We saw them before, I heard they weren't too happy with their play, so we expect a better performance out of them, so we've got to be prepared for it and just come out and lay it all on the line, it's going to come down to who wants it more," said Steel.

Regina and Hamilton play in the semifinal on Friday night at 8 p.m. The winner will advance to the final on Sunday to play the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.