How close it was for the Home Hardware Midget AAA Legionnaires, in their quest to reach the playoff round of the Mac's tournament.

In their round-robin finale, the Legionnaires fell 3-2 to the Cariboo Cougars, ultimately falling one goal, and one point short of advancing out of the group stage.

It was previously thought that the Legionnaires would need to win to get in, but not long before their 3:30 p.m. Sask time puck drop, it turned out Swift Current just needed the tie to make playoffs.

Heading into the game with a 1-0-2 record, Swift Current jumped out to the early lead on a powerplay blast from Kersey Reich.

Logan Linklater and Hendrik DeKlerk both chipped in helpers on the play for the Legionnaires, though the lead wasn't safe for long, as the Cougars drew even before the end of the opening frame.

It was deadlocked at one apiece until the final minutes of the second period, when Mason Strutt put one past the Cariboo keeper on a drop pass from Linklater, for his second assist of the day.

However, luck just wasn't on the Legionnaires' side in the third period.

"We had the lead 2-1, and we get an unfortunate bounce to make it 2-2 - the puck goes off our D-man," said head coach Darren Evjen. "We stayed with our game really good. Kept our composure, did a good job, and then at the end we're on the powerplay and we take a penalty, and on the 4-on-4, they score on a bouncing puck."

The Legionnaires finish their Mac's tournament run in third in Pool 4 at 1-1-2, having scored 17 goals for, while giving up just nine over their four games.

"I think the biggest problem was our discipline today again - it reared its ugly head," said Evjen after Swift's only loss of the tournament. "We took way too many penalties again. We were good all tournament, but we got into a game that we needed to win, and we took too many penalties."

Recapping what started out as a promising run:

The Legionnaires kicked off the Mac's with a 3-3 draw with the eventual pool-winning Lethbridge Hurricanes. They then dismantled the Brampton 45's 10-1, before surrendering a late goal in a 2-2 draw to Calgary.

"This tournament is a hard tournament, you don't get any mulligans or easy teams here," noted Evjen. "We've had ourselves in a chance to get into the playoffs for two games. We battled hard with the Flames, which probably wasn't our game. Then today, we battled hard, but again, you've got to learn how to win.

"The biggest thing in those big games like that, you've got to keep your composure, and keep playing. I thought we did that for the most part - we really did. We handled adversity very well, but we just took too many penalties."

Though the result certainly wasn't what Swift Current had in mind for the ideal outcome, it provides the latest opportunity for a stepping stone, as the Legionnaires continue their annual ascent in the SMAAAHL.

"I think there's lots of positives - there always is. You know you can compete with anybody. It's just about our group learning how to win. When you're in tight situations and tough games, what you can't do is sabotage yourself," said Evjen.

"If they score, they score. But, what we need to do is stay to our game, and we can't take a bad penalty, or we can't turn a puck over when we've got total control. I think that's the biggest thing - we've got a good team, we've just got to learn how to win a little more."

Reed Jacobson closed the tournament with the team lead in goals with four. He added a single assist to tie for the team lead in points.

Also tied at the top with five points were Mason Strutt (3 G, 2 A), and Joe Arntsen (1 G, 4 A).

Arntsen received some good news post-game as well, as the rookie blueliner was named a Mac's tournament Second-Team All-Star defenceman.

As well, the Legionnaires were named the recipient of the Team Sportsmanship Award.

The Legionnaires are off from game action until January 8, when they head to Wilcox to take on the Notre Dame Hounds.