CHARLOTTETOWN – The defending national champion Bisons begin their 2019 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship, hosted by UPEI, this Thursday. No. 6 seed Manitoba takes on OUA champion and No. 3 seed Guelph in the quarter-finals at 3 p.m. AST.
The single elimination game will be streamed on USPORTS.live (pay-per-view) with a home broadcast available on UMFM 101.5. The winner advances to the semi-finals on Saturday, March 16, where they'll meet the winner between Montréal and UPEI at a time to be determined.
The Bisons arrive as the No. 6 seed after losing to the Alberta Pandas in the best-of-three Canada West Final (3-0, 4-1). Manitoba was second to Alberta during the conference regular season as well, finishing with a record of 16-5-4-3 and 59 points.
The Guelph Gryphons arrive in Charlottetown fresh off winning their third McCaw Cup in four years. The Gryphons beat the Toronto Varsity Blues 4-2 in the OUA Championship to earn their title.
The Gryphons have been led this season by forward Kaitlin Lowy, who had two assists in the title game — adding to a regular season that saw her tied for third in the conference in scoring (25) with 13 goals and 12 assists in 22 games.
Guelph also has veteran presence between the pipes, as fifth-year Valerie Lamenta — a former U SPORTS Player of the Year — had an OUA-best save percentage of .952 in 2018-19. Her goals against average of 1.24 was also tops in Ontario.
Opposite Lamenta will be
Lauren Taraschuk for Manitoba. The second-year led Canada West in wins this season with 17, posting a save percentage of 0.934 and a goals-against average of 1.54. Taraschuk has great memories of the U SPORTS stage as well, allowing just one goal in three games at last season's national championship in London, Ontario.
The Bisons will hope to get to Lamenta early with their top forward line of fifth-years
Lauryn Keen (13 goals, 13 assists),
Karissa Kirkup (six goals, ten assists), and
Natasha Kostenko (eight goals, seven assists). That line accounted for four of the six Manitoba goals in the conference semi-final, where they swept the UBC Thunderbirds in two games — led by Kirkup's two goals in the game two clincher.
And while the Bisons struggled in their series against Alberta, fifth-year defender
Erica Rieder played solid in pinching to earn chances for Manitoba. Rieder led Canada West in defenceman scoring and plus-minus this season, with four goals, 13 assists, and a +27.
These two teams will also be hoping to get on the man advantage sooner rather than later. The Bisons led Canada West with a success rate of 20.2% in the regular season, while Guelph was best in the OUA, converting an eye-popping 30.0% of their power play opportunities.
2019 U SPORTS WOMEN'S HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES AST):
Thursday, March 14 (Quarterfinals)
Guelph vs. Manitoba (3 PM)
Montreal vs. UPEI (7 PM)
Friday, March 15 (Quarterfinals)
Alberta vs. Toronto (3 PM)
St Thomas vs. McGill (7 PM)
Saturday, March 16
Semifinals TBD
(10 AM, 1 PM, 4 PM, 8 PM)
Sunday, March 17
Consolation Final (11 AM)
Bronze Medal Game (2:30 PM)
Gold Medal Game (6 PM)
Canada West Final Standings
Conference Statistics
HOOFPRINTS
- Extra time experience: The Bisons have plenty of experience with overtimes and shootouts over the last two seasons. In 2018-19, they played six regular season games that went past regulation, posting a record of 3-3. At last year's U SPORTS Championship in London, the Bisons' semi-final matchup with Concordia went to the shootout, where Alanna Sharman and Jordyn Zacharias scored, and Lauren Taraschuk made two key saves.
- All-Canadian Gala: On Wednesday, March 13, UPEI will host the All-Canadian Gala, where major award winners, as well as All-Canadian and All-Rookie teams in women's hockey will be announced.
PLAYER TO WATCH: MANITOBA BISONS
- Alanna Sharman (F / 5th Year): Scored on a penalty shot in the semi-final against UBC and has been second on the Bisons in points per game (0.67) since returning from a first-half injury. Sharman is the second-leading scorer in Bisons history with 109 points in 115 regular season conference games.
