CHARLOTTETOWN – After a disappointing loss to Guelph in the quarterfinals, the No. 6 seeded Manitoba Bisons will continue their 2019 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship on Saturday, March 16 at 10 a.m. AST as they take on the host and No. 7 seeded UPEI Panthers in the consolation semifinal.
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 consolation final at 11 a.m. AST on Sunday, March 17, while the loser sees their tournament come to an end.
Manitoba should come into an exciting atmosphere with some fire after Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Guelph Gryphons.
Despite out-shooting the OUA champions 23-21, the Bisons were unable to rally after giving up two goals in the first two minutes. Manitoba fifth-year forward
Alanna Sharman responded with two goals of her own in the game, scoring late in the first and early in the second, but Guelph made the final mark —Nicole MacKinnon scored the game-winner five minutes into the third.
For the University of Prince Edward Island, it was standing room only at MacLauchlan Arena as they took on the No. 2 seed Montréal Carabins in their quarterfinal on Thursday night. After holding steady in the first, the Panthers gave up a goal early in the second and Montréal didn't look back, eventually winning 3-0.
UPEI enters this tournament with an automatic hosting berth after a 14-13-1 regular season and an AUS quarterfinals loss to the UNB Reds (3-2, 4-3). They were only sixth in the conference with 1.96 goals per game in the regular season but continue a thread of recent Bison opponents in being solid on the power play — second in the AUS at 16.2%.
Forward Jolena Gillard was the top scorer for the Panthers this season, with 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 21 games. Between the pipes, UPEI has gotten a full season's worth of work out of Camille Scherger, who has posted a 1.84 GAA (5
th in AUS), 0.932 save percentage (4
th in AUS), and 14 wins in 28 regular season games started. Scherger had 24 saves in the quarterfinal loss to Montréal.
For Manitoba, a strong and structured start will be key after giving up early goals to Guelph in the quarters. The veteran forward combination of
Alanna Sharman,
Jordyn Zacharias, and
Sheridan Oswald was particularly effective against the Gryphons in producing offence, while the 'Special K' line of fifth-years
Lauryn Keen (13 goals, 13 assists),
Karissa Kirkup (six goals, ten assists), and
Natasha Kostenko (eight goals, seven assists) is always a threat.
Fifth-year defender
Erica Rieder is once again one to watch in Saturday's game. Rieder led Canada West in defenceman scoring and plus-minus this season, with four goals, 13 assists, and a +27, and was named a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian on Wednesday.
2019 U SPORTS WOMEN'S HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES AST):
Saturday, March 16
Manitoba vs. UPEI – Consolation Semifinal (10 a.m.)
TBD – Consolation Semifinal (1 p.m.)
Guelph vs. Montréal – Semifinal (4 p.m.)
TBD – Semifinal (7 p.m.)
Sunday, March 17
Consolation Final (11 a.m.)
Bronze Medal Game (2:30 a.m.)
Gold Medal Game (6 a.m.)
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.
PLAYER TO WATCH: MANITOBA BISONS
- Alanna Sharman (F / 5th Year): Scored two goals against Guelph, buried 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.
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