This weekend, the defending national champion Manitoba Bisons (16-5-4-3) begin their drive for back-to-back U SPORTS banners. To do so, they'll need to knock off the UBC Thunderbirds (14-5-4-5), who made quick work of the Regina Cougars in last weekend's quarter-final.
These two teams split their regular season series, with both sides taking a win a piece at each other's barns. Three of the four contests were decided in the extra session, with two going to a shootout, while a third ended in four-on-four overtime. The other game – a 2-1 win for UBC –featured the game-winning goal within the final five-and-a-half minutes of play.
But the history of close battles between the two teams extends much further than just this season. Dating back as far as the 2014 playoffs — the rookie year for Manitoba's eight fifth-years — the two squads have competed in five post-season match-ups that have been decided by one goal.
But for head coach Sean Fisher and his veteran group, past results are just that. The past. The team is locked in and ready for what should be another instant classic, led by a leadership group that has won 18 playoff games over the past four seasons.
"That's pretty impressive and doesn't happen very often in university hockey," Fisher said of the team's knack for coming up big when it counts in the post-season. "They know how to win one-goal games."
Included in Manitoba's fifth-year phenoms are the 'Triple K' line of Lauryn Keen, Karissa Kirkup and Natasha Kostenko. The dangerous trio combined for 57 points in the regular season, with Keen's 26 points good for fourth in the conference.
Arguably the more interesting stat among the three though, is the success they had against UBC this season, combining for eight points in four games, including Kostenko's game-winner in a 3-2 overtime victory at home on Feb. 1.
"They're a match-up problem for most of the teams in our conference. They're big, fast, skilled and really good off the cycle," Fisher said of the three playmakers.
"Where they probably don't get enough credit is their 200-foot game. All three of them defend really hard as well and are just puck possession monsters. They end up drawing lots of penalties and are a nightmare for lots of teams in our conference. I kind of expect the same thing this weekend."
In order for Manitoba to have success though, they'll need to pepper third-year UBC goaltender Tory Micklash early and often. She was third in the conference with a 1.01 goals against average and .950 save percentage and stymied the Bisons in some key situations during the regular season.
Opposite her is second-year netminder Lauren Taraschuk, who was strong in the playoffs for the Herd last year. She's allowed just one goal in six of her last nine starts and looks ready to make an impact in the post-season yet again.
"It's two of the top goaltenders in the conference going at it, so those that are looking for a goaltending display might just see it this weekend at Wayne Fleming," said Fisher.
Another key factor to keep in mind is special teams, especially considering how tight every contest between the pair of nationally ranked squads has been this year.
The T-Birds led the conference with a penalty kill that operated at an impressive 91.4%, while Manitoba had the Canada West's best power-play at 20.2%.
"We know that can be the difference-maker come playoff time based on the experiences with this program over the past couple of years," Fisher said. "We'll make a couple of adjustments in preparation for what they do. They mix it up and are pretty dangerous on both sides, so it'll be an area where we'll have to be good at."
