When the top two teams met at the T.G. Smith Centre on Tuesday night - all that was on the line was bragging rights.

The Ste. Anne Aces had already clinched top spot in the Carillon Senior Hockey League and there was no perfect record to worry about.

Their season opening winning streak came to an end after game 16.

The Steinbach Huskies had no chance of catching the Aces.

They were relegated to second place after losing 6-2 in Ste. Anne last Friday.

When the final seconds ticked down Tuesday night, the Huskies claimed those bragging rights.

Tanner Harms scored his second goal of the game with 7:44 left as Steinbach edged Ste. Anne 5-4.

Harms, who also assisted on goals by Kyle Isenor, Gabe Minville and Tim Thiessen, said it was gutsy effort by a Huskies team that was a bit shorthanded for their showdown with the Aces.

"We were down probably five or six guys and the guys that showed up really played well tonight. We got a couple of good bounces in the second and third that got us a couple of goals and that last one was a really good bounce for us as well. It allowed us to go up one and then we kind of just held on to the end."

Steinbach enjoyed a 4-1 lead after forty minutes but the Aces drew even scoring three times in a 2:13 span.

"We played a good third period," said Ste. Anne captain Steph Pattyn whose goal at 5:05 of the final frame cut the Huskies lead to 4-2. "We took the first two periods off. It's hard to win a game against a team like Steinbach if you're only going to play 20 minutes of the game. I thought in the third period we really took it to them and dictated the game. I think that's what we have to do as we go into the playoffs."

Russell Trudeau scored back-to-back goals 60 seconds apart which tied the game at 4-4.

Dustin Pearson had the other Aces goal.

Ste. Anne coach Kevin Lansard, who watched his team win 18 of 20 games this season, was asked how hungry he expects his players to be when the semifinals begin.

"Hungrier than they've ever been so far," answered the Aces bench boss. "We have a bullseye on our back and people are coming for us and they're not going to show up lightly. They're going to be prepared. We need our "A" game."

Ste. Anne will meet either the La Broquerie Habs or St. Malo Warriors in the semifinals.

The Habs and Warriors will meet Friday in St. Malo in the final game of the regular season schedule.

Those two teams will then begin a best-of-three survivor series Monday in La Broquerie.

The Huskies play their regular season finale Thursday in St. Jean against the Red River Wild which will be a preview of their semifinal.