Box Score Written by: John Gaudes

WINNIPEG  - The Manitoba Bisons women's hockey team fell victim to a furious finish from the Regina Cougars on Saturday, February 15 at the Wayne Fleming Arena (U of M campus), losing 3-1 to end their season.

Looking to tie their best-of-three quarterfinal series and force a deciding third game, they gave up three goals in the last 13 minutes. Regina takes the series 2-0 and moves on to the Canada West semifinals.

Regina got goals from Tori Head, Kelly Regnier and Kylie Gavelin in the win. For Gavelin, it was her second of the weekend. Cougars goalie Jennifer Schmidt was again solid after giving up an early goal, making 24 saves.

Manitoba, meanwhile, got a slick early goal from Kylie Palmer but failed to capitalize on chances later. Palmer's goal ended up being their only one of the weekend. Bisons goalie Amanda Schubert made 14 saves in the loss.

"As soon as one bad thing happened, we stopped playing," said Bisons head coach Jon Rempel. "I give credit to Regina, they kept it close."

After showing it throughout her 29-point regular season, it was Palmer starting the show with a puck-handling display. At 2:31, she deked off two Cougars in the circle and launched a low shot past Schmidt for her first of the playoffs. A competitive 18 minutes ensued, as Manitoba's speed dictated the pace and forced Regina out of their checking game.

Style of play was again a factor in a scoreless second, but it was Schmidt who was up to the task. The Bisons owned zone time, but the Cougars goalie made four phenomenal saves - two of which coming on Manitoba 2-on-1 break-ins where Palmer got a hard shot off.

Late in the third, those survival plays for Regina paid off. At 7:18, Head wheeled around the Manitoba net before putting a wrist shot off Schubert and in to tie the game. Seven minutes later, Regina would take the lead after a Bisons turnover in their own zone. Regnier grabbed the puck and put it low to give the Cougars the lead.

In the waning moments, with Schubert pulled, Gavelin won a race to the puck to put in an empty-netter - sealing the victory.

With the end of the season comes the end of the Bisons careers for Manitoba's graduating players: Brenley Anderson, Amy Lee, Caitlin MacDonald, Rachele Bosc and Danielle Vigier.

Regina now awaits the winner of the Calgary vs. UBC quarterfinal series to see whether they will travel to second-seed Saskatchewan or top-seed Alberta for the semifinals.

If UBC wins later today, Regina will go to Alberta. If Calgary wins tonight and tomorrow, they will go to Saskatchewan. The Canada West best-of-three semifinals series will begin Friday, February 21 at 7:00 p.m. CST.

Written by: John Gaudes