The Moose Jaw Warriors fought hard and came close to a late game-tying goal but they came up just short to the Prince George Cougars, falling 3-2 Friday at Mosaic Place.

Early in the game and on the attack, the Cougar forwards were able to dig the puck away from the Warriors low in their zone and feed their defencemen for shots from the blueline.

On one of those occasions, defenceman Jack Sander took a shot from the left line.  The puck bounced between the Moose Jaw circles where Mitchell Kohner picked it up and put a backhand over the Warriors goal line to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

In the back half of the first period, the Warriors took back-to-back penalties and it came back to hurt them.

At 15:08, the Cougars set up Cole Moberg for a shot inside the left circle that beat Boston Bilous to give Prince George a 2-0 lead.

The second period started slow for both teams, but as it continued, the Warriors had a consistent presence inside the Cougars zone and developed several quality scoring chances.

Working on the power-play eight minutes into the period, Chase Hartje had the puck at the blueline and connected with Captain Owen Hardy inside the left circle.  The 20-year-old from Nanaimo, BC ripped a shot top shelf over the blocker of Tyler Brennan to get the Warriors on the board.

Just over three minutes later, the Cougars let another shot go from the blueline, the rebound sat beside the left goal line where Craig Armstrong knocked in his first of the year.

Moose Jaw continued to press and with just over two minutes left in the period, Cayde Augustine had the puck deep the Warriors zone and made a great pass up the ice to set up Eric Alarie on a breakaway.

The 16-year-old came in on the Cougars goalie and was stopped on his initial shot, but he picked up the rebound and scored his fourth of the year to pull Moose Jaw back to within one.

Throughout the third period, the Warriors pressed for an equalizer.  They were able to generate plenty of good chances but unfortunately, they were not able to convert which led to the one-goal loss to the Cougars.

The Warriors weekend homestand continues Saturday with their fifth meeting of the season against the Brandon Wheat Kings, which is their final game in Moose Jaw this season.

Tickets are available at the Mosaic Place Box Office or online at www.mjwarriors.ca.