Box Score Written by: John Gaudes

WINNIPEG  - The Manitoba Bisons men's hockey team showed resolve, defensive intensity and outstanding goaltending to beat the Mount Royal Cougars 4-2 in the second game of their best-of-three Canada West quarterfinals series on Saturday, February 22 at the Wayne Fleming Arena (U of M campus).

With the win, Manitoba ties the series at one game a piece, forcing a deciding third game on Sunday, February 23 at Wayne Fleming Arena at 3 p.m. CST.

"That was Bisons hockey tonight. We played hard, we did the things we needed to do to win in the playoffs," said Manitoba head coach Mike Sirant. "We were solid in our defensive zone, we were physical and everybody contributed."

"Above all else, it was our will to win. Our will to win was outstanding tonight."

Manitoba was keyed by three leading performances from Ian Duval, Taylor Dickin and starting goalie Joe Caliguiri. Duval scored a beauty of a game-winner in the third and added two assists, while Dickin had two goals on the night. One night after his 52-save loss, Caliguiri had 22 saves - two in the third period diving to keep his team ahead by one.

"We need goaltending in the playoffs and [Joe's] certainly contributing for us," said Sirant. "He made some outstanding saves late in the game to conserve the win."

Jesse Paradis notched the fourth Manitoba goal.

Mount Royal got a goal from Jeff Barrett and the second of the weekend from Cody Carpentier. Starting goalie Dalyn Flette had 23 saves in the loss.

20 hours after finishing the seventh longest men's hockey playoff game in Canada West history, the start between Mount Royal and Manitoba was expectedly ragged. The Cougars were able to capitalize first at 6:11, as Jeff Barrett came in hard on the net, putting a shot under Caliguiri that Marshall had to finish off to put Mount Royal up 1-0. Manitoba responded late in the first at the 18:59 mark, as Jordan DePape won a battle behind Flette, then threw a pass to a streaking Dickin, who finished to tie the game up.

The Bisons upped their physicality after the first break, leading to a goal at the 9:12 mark for Paradis - he scooped up a loose puck in the crease and buried it to give Manitoba their first lead of the weekend. The Herd followed that up with seven strong minutes on the penalty kill, as they took a major and a minor, but played tight in the middle to keep the Cougars off the scoreboard.

At 7:36 of the third period, Manitoba added to their lead - a Cougars turnover turned into a Lewadniuk breakaway where Duval trailed the play, got the puck after a poke check, and made a move to eliminate Flette for the goal. Four minutes later, Mount Royal put some fear into the Bisons as Carpentier scored on the 5-on-3 to make it a one goal game.

Late, though, it was the tandem of Dickin and Duval - Dickin on the receiving end of a cross-ice pass at 18:40 to give the game its final score.

The loss is Mount Royal's first ever men's hockey playoff loss in school history, one night after notching the school's first win.