REGINA, Sask. – The Mohawk Mountaineers men's curling team kept its playoff hopes alive Thursday with a come-from-behind 8-7 win over the SAIT Trojans at the CCAA/Curling Canada Championships.

Mohawk opened Day 3 with a 6-3 loss to the Sault Cougars before rebounding later in the day.

In the opener, the Mountaineers fell behind 5-0 after four ends. They trimmed the deficit to two over the next two ends, but the Cougars added a point in the seventh to secure the win.

In the second draw, Mohawk again trailed early, down 5-0 after two ends. The Mountaineers responded with five points in the third to tie the game. After the teams traded points in the fourth and fifth ends and blanked the sixth, SAIT moved ahead 7-6 with a point in the seventh. Mohawk answered with two in the final end to seal the victory.

The Mountaineers improved to 2-3 through five draws.

Mohawk can clinch a semifinal spot outright by winning its final two round-robin games, combined with losses by the Gaillards du Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue and the NAIT Ooks in their remaining games.

A tiebreaker scenario would require Mohawk to win its final two games, Abitibi-Témiscamingue to lose both of its remaining games, and NAIT to split its final two – with its loss coming against the Assiniboine Cougars.

On the women's side, Mohawk dropped both games Thursday to fall to 1-4, ending their hopes of a semifinal berth.

The Mountaineers lost 9-6 to the Niagara Knights in a back-and-forth game that was tied 3-3 after four ends. Niagara scored three over the next two ends before Mohawk tied it 6-6 in the seventh. The Knights secured the win with three points in the eighth.

In their second game, Mohawk fell behind 7-0 through four ends in a 9-2 loss to SAIT. The Mountaineers scored two in the fifth, but surrendered two more in the sixth to end the game.

Both Mohawk teams return to action Friday. The women face PACWEST at 1:30 p.m., while the men take on the Concordia Thunder at the same time. The men wrap up round-robin play at 8:30 p.m. against the Humber Hawks, while the women play their final draw at 9 p.m. versus the Assiniboine Cougars.