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SASKATOON -- After watching his bloodied linemate helped from the ice, Chase De Leo did all he could to make one of his best friends feel a little better -- help the Portland Winterhawks make the semifinal at the MasterCard Memorial Cup. De Leo gave Portland the lead for good in the third and the Winterhawks scored three times in the period to defeat the Saskatoon Blades 4-2 in the tournaments final round-robin game. With the score tied 1-1 after two, De Leo jammed a loose puck past Blades goalie Andrey Makarov at 4:08 as Portland (2-1) now moves on to Fridays semifinal. After the game, thoughts on the Portland side quickly turned to Winterhawks right-winger Taylor Leier, who suffered what appeared to be a blow to the head on a hit from Blades defenceman Dalton Thrower just inside the Saskatoon blue-line in the first period. A bloodied Leier, who is from Saskatoon, stayed facedown for a few minutes before being helped off the ice and did not return. The was no penalty on the play, but the Canadian Hockey League said in a release after the game that it was reviewing the incident. "You dont want to see a teammate go down, especially one of my best friends and linemates. Its a scary thing," said De Leo, who now has two goals at the tournament. "Its not something you want to see and obviously the boys are going to get some energy and motivation to battle back for him." Not surprisingly, Winterhawks coach Travis Green and Blades counterpart Lorne Molleken had different interpretations of the hit. "Its pretty obvious where the shot comes. It hits him in the head and there is a jump to it as well. The video is pretty obvious," Green said. "We lost one of our better players to a hit that I thought should have been a major." Molleken, meanwhile, called the hit "unfortunate" but added that he thought Thrower caught Leier in the chest with his shoulder. Winterhawks players disagreed. "When you see a teammate go down like that youre not going to stand by and watch but at this point in the tournament and how big of a game it was, we cant take any stupid penalties," said Portland forward Ty Rattie, who scored his fourth goal. "(Leier) got his head hit. It was a hit to the head." The host Blades (1-2), who were swept out of the Western Hockey League playoffs in the first round and have never won a Memorial Cup, now have a tough task with three games in four nights. A win on Wednesday would have meant a bye to the final, but Saskatoon now faces a Thursday tiebreaker game against the Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights (1-2). "Going through adversity is nothing new for this team. Weve had our ups and downs this year and were looking forward to proving ourselves again and taking the long way around," said Saskatoon overage forward Josh Nicholls, who had a goal and an assist. "This a typical Blades way of doing things -- taking that long way. Hopefully we get the job done and take three straight." The winner of the Saskatoon-London game will meet Portland in Fridays semi. With the Winterhawks victory, the Halifax Mooseheads (2-1) clinched a berth directly into Sundays final to decide the CHL champion. Derrick Pouliot and Brenden Leipsic had the other goals for Portland (2-1), which got 29 saves from Mac Carruth. Nicolas Petan added two assists for the WHL champions. Shane McColgan also scored for Saskatoon, while Makarov stopped 30 shots in taking the loss. "It was a big win," Green said. "I thought their team came out hard like we expected early, tried to be physical on us and we withheld and I thought we slowly took over the game." After De Leo scored to give Portland the lead in the third, Leipsic added an insurance goal for Portland at 6:27, ripping a shot from the slot into the top corner past Makarov. Rattie made it 4-1 with his fourth of the tournament at 10:16, beating Makarov to the glove side off the rush. "We knew it was going to be hard and to get three quick bingos like that was big for the boys," Rattie said. "(It) gave us a little bit more confidence and a little bit more leeway on defence." Nicholls scored at 16:27 to cut the deficit to two, but the Blades would get no closer. "Portland did a good job against us in a lot of areas but these teams are all skilled teams and when we get into that game its going to be difficult on us so we have to play a simplified game," Molleken said. "We have to play a north game and make sure our forecheck is good but tonight we let Carruth handle far too many pucks." Following a scoreless first period, the teams traded goals in the second. Pouliot opened the scoring at 6:44 after jumping on a Blades turnover and firing a shot from the sideboards that fooled Makarov through the five-hole. Saskatoon got a 5-on-3 power play later in the period and didnt generate much of anything until McColgan, who hit the post moments earlier, fired a shot past Carruth that deflected in off a Winterhawks player in front with a second left on the second penalty to tie the score at 11:20. Portland had a golden opportunity to retake the lead when Blades left-winger Michael Ferland took a double minor for high sticking with just over four minutes remaining in the period. Winterhawks defenceman Seth Jones, the No. 1 ranked North American skater according to NHL Central Scouting ahead of Junes draft, had a good chance off the rush but fired wide as the Blades weathered the storm and were saluted off the ice by a standing ovation from the crowd of 9,239 at the Credit Union Centre. Coming off Sundays emotional 5-2 victory over Halifax, the Blades said prior to the game that their focus would be to get on the body early and they did just that, hitting the Winterhawks at every opportunity in the first period -- including Throwers crushing blow on Leier. The Blades, who have had their share of doubters this season, dont have much time to refocus ahead of Thursdays tiebreaker. "Things are just going to increase in tempo here. It all counts now because lose and youre done. There is no tomorrow anymore so weve really got to strap up and put our work boots on," defenceman Duncan Siemens. "Were a hard-nosed team. We have some skill up front but the majority of team is meat and potatoes. Weve got to go to those hard areas and score those greasy goals." Notes: The Winterhawks have won two Memorial Cups (1983, 1998). The Blades have never won a CHL title. ... Former NHL tough guy and Blades alumni Joe Kocur was in attendance. Ultra Boost Australia Sale . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Wholesale NMD R1 . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. http://www.nmdaustraliasale.com/nmd-r1-shoes-australia/womens.html . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. NMD CS1 Australia . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. Ultra Boost Australia . -- Hunter Smith scored the winner with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period as the Oshawa Generals edged the host Sarnia Sting 5-4 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Vic Schaefer has turned Mississippi State from a middle-of-the-road Southeastern Conference program into a national factor in five seasons.The Bulldogs coach celebrated that dramatic turnaround with the 100th victory of his career on Tuesday night, a 58-44 win over Arkansas-Little Rock.Schaefers milestone with Mississippi State (10-0) happened in a state dear to him -- a place where he spent six years as an assistant for the Razorbacks before leaving with coach Gary Blair for Texas A&M.I wouldnt lie to you if I didnt say its kind of special, especially in this state, Schaefer said. I spent six great years up on the hill. I wasnt good enough to get that one when (Blair) left back in 2003, but I really appreciate the opportunity at Mississippi State.Schaefer is only the second coach in school history to reach the century mark in victories, joining Sharon Fanning-Otis. He earned every bit of win No. 100 on Tuesday against a Trojans (5-5) team that led by as many as five points on its home court and trailed by only four points after three quarters.In the fourth quarter, however, Victoria Vivians scored 10 of her 17 points to help the Bulldogs pull away and remain undefeated. Blair Schaefer matched her career high with 12 points for Mississippi State, while Morgan William finished with 10.Im proud of what weve accomplished at Mississippi State, Vic Schaefer said. Its what I envisioned.Ronjanae DeGray led UALR with 18 points and was 7 of 7 from the field, while Sharde Collins had 11 points.Mississippi State entered the game third in the SEC in scoring, averaging 80.7 points per game.However, the Bulldogs struggled to score in the first half against a UALR defense that had allowed only an average of 46 points per game during its recent winning streak -- 52.6 per game for the season.The Trojans led by aas many as five points in the second quarter, with Collins scoring all nine of her first-half points in the first quarter, but Mississippi State overcame 10 first-half turnovers to lead 25-24 at halftime and wore down UALR late.ddddddddddddWe missed a lot of opportunities, Trojans coach Joe Foley said. To me, personally, Im not pleased at all with the way we played. You can say what you want, but I think our kids can play better than that.BIG PICTUREMississippi State: Despite having not played a home game since an 88-51 win over San Jose State on Nov. 26, the Bulldogs added to their impressive early season resume against one of the top mid-major programs in the country. They did so by committing only three turnovers in the second half after turning the ball over 10 times in the first.UALR: The Trojans have reached the postseason eight times in the last nine seasons, including four trips to the NCAA Tournament. They had won four straight games entering Tuesday, but a close loss to a top 5 team isnt likely to hurt their postseason chances.AWAKENED VIVIANSVivians was only 3-of-9 shooting through three quarters on Tuesday, and she had committed four of Mississippi States 13 turnovers. Instead of showing her frustration, the junior kept her cool and scored 10 points in the fourth, making 4 of 5 shots as the Bulldogs outscored the Trojans 20-10 to close out the win.Youve got to keep a level head playing for Coach Schaefer, Vivians said. If you get out of it, its not going to turn out well.UP NEXTMississippi State stays on the road when it travels to Los Angeles for two games in the Women of Troy Classic, beginning with SMU on Friday.The Trojans return to the road when they face Tulsa on Sunday. ' ' '