CALGARY — The No. 4 ranked Manitoba Bison women's hockey team shook off a difficult weekend against Alberta, beating the Mount Royal Cougars 4-1 at the Flames Community Arena on Friday.

It's Manitoba's first win of 2019 and snaps a two-game losing streak to start their calendar year. Natasha Kostenko, Karissa Kirkup, Jenai Buchanan, and Erica Rieder were the goal-scorers for the Bisons.

They improve to 11-4-2-2 with the win, while Mount Royal falls to 7-10-1-1. The lone Cougars goal was scored by Nicolette Seper.

Cougars assistant coach, Brianne Jenner, said the loss came as a result of the slow start. 

"We were up against a pretty strong team, and they capitalized on our mistakes. However, we had a much better push in the third period." 

The Bisons dominated the game following the puck drop, constantly buzzing around Zoe De Beauville's net. While the Cougars initially were able to hold their own against the defending champion Bisons, Natasha Kostenko slotted home the first goal of the game for her team. 

Manitoba was not done, with just 14 seconds left on the clock, Bisons forward Karissa Kirkup managed to score a second goal for her team before the first intermission.

Up two goals headed into the second, the Bisons continued solid momentum with Jenai Buchanan's goal at the 6:38 mark off a helper from Lauren Warkentin.

The Cougars, down on their luck, had one last chance to gain some footing against the Bisons. By the time the third period was half finished, the score remained at 3-0 for the Bisons. That was until Nicolette Seper finally got the Cougars on the board. 

With the clock ticking down, the Cougars would hit the crossbar before Manitoba tapped the puck into an empty net and the game would finish 4-1. 

The Booster Juice Players of the Game were Nicolette Seper from the Cougars and Natasha Kostenko from the Bisons. The rematch between the Cougars and Bisons is tomorrow at 4 PM.