The No. 6 ranked Bison women’s hockey continued their winning ways against the Regina Cougars in women’s hockey action as the Bisons defeated Regina by a 5-1 score on Friday, February 5 at the Max Bell Arena (U of Manitoba campus).

With the victory, Manitoba improves their record of 17-4-0 while Regina falls to a 5-8-6 record.

Along with the win, Manitoba has rattled off a nine game conference win streak against Regina over the last two seasons and last loss against the Cougars was in the 2007-08 season with a 4-2 loss at home on Feb. 9/08. Earlier this season, the Herd swept the Cougars at Regina by scores of 3-2 (SO) win on Nov. 14 and 2-1 (SO) win on Nov. 15.

“We were very good defensively and opportunistic when we had our chances tonight, “ stated Bison women’s hockey head coach Jon Rempel.

The first ten minutes was a bit of ‘feeling out’ process, as the two teams seemed to shake the cobwebs of an early matinee start of 3 p.m. local time. But the Bisons finished the first period in a flurry, picking up the first goal of the game with just under seven minutes to go, off the stick of Becca King. It was her third of the season and Addie Miles and Andi Wilgosh assisted on the play. Manitoba further pressured the visitors and was rewarded with a couple of quick goals at the end of the period. Defenceman Kacey Funk fired home a low shot from the point and rookie Kristin Cockerill jammed home a rebound in the slot and after one period of play, Manitoba held a 3-0 margin.

Goaltender Naticia Leskun replaced Lisa Urban in the Cougars’ net at the start of the second period, and made a couple stops before the Bisons’ offense started clicking again. About eight minutes into the second, Rachelle Bosc extended the Bisons lead to 4-0, and just 19 seconds after that, Tammy Brade scored from just outside the top of the crease, extending the Bisons’ lead to 5-0. The Cougars were able to get one back before the end of the period when forward Rianne Wight scored her seventh of the season after receiving a pass from Gina Campbell and put it past Bisons goaltender Tara Lacquette, but the Bisons still took a 5-1 lead into the third.

The third period did not have a ton of action, as Regina could not regain any momentum after taking three consecutive penalties to begin the final frame. The Bisons looked for the sixth goal but Leskun made several tough saves on the Bisons’ power play and the score remained the same. The final was Manitoba 5-1 over Regina.

Rempel said, “I though we played a decent game. I expect Regina to come out stronger and expect them to play a more physical and energy game. We will have to be ready to play them hard.”

Lacquette earned her third consecutive win in the nets while Urban was credited with the loss. Miles added a goal and an assist for first star honours. Both teams went scoreless on the power play with Manitoba 0-5 and Regina 0-3.

The same two teams meet again on Saturday, February 6 at a special time of 3 p.m. CT at the Max Bell Arena (U of Manitoba campus) during the promotion of Female Minor Hockey Day.

All Canada West women’s hockey games now have live stats, found on http://www.leaguestat.com/canadawest/womens/en/stats/schedule.php