WINNIPEG — A night after a Friday chess match ended in a scoreless draw, the Manitoba Bisons and Saskatchewan Huskies played with heightened emotion on Saturday — with both women's soccer teams looking to walk away from the weekend with a win.
For most of the match, it looked like the Huskies would earn those three points, as the visitors and division-leaders controlled possession and nursed a 1-0 lead. Their efforts would be dashed in the 87th minute, though, as Bisons forward Bianca Cavalcanti scored her eighth goal of the season — ending the match in a 1-1 draw.
"I told them to keep believing in our plan, because it was working," said Bisons head coach Vanessa Martinez Lagunas when asked about the team's late drive for a tying goal.
"It had been working the whole game and yesterday. We just needed to stay true, stay calm and patient. I told them 'One chance is going to come and we're going to put it in' and they did."
The two points from this weekend are critical for Manitoba in their hunt for a playoff berth in the Canada West east division. They trail the Regina Cougars by two points but have an opportunity to make up ground — and perhaps take the second seed over — against the 0-7-2 Winnipeg Wesmen next weekend, while Regina will play Saskatchewan.
The Huskies' goal came off the foot of Maya Gabruch, her fifth of the season. The marker was off an excellent set play at 38', as a corner ball from Taneil Gay skipped right to Gabruch in the centre of the box, who poked it out of the reach of Bisons keeper Karina Bagi.
The Huskies were aggressive, especially in the midfield, throughout Saturday's match — played in front of 90 fans on a cool night at UM West Turf Field. After Manitoba had the shot advantage on Friday, it was the Huskies who had 13 to the Bisons' nine on Saturday.
Still, the home side had good opportunities. Two chances came quickly in the middle of the second half. Cavalcanti put a shot just wide of the post after breaking in at 60', but the excellent Huskies keeper Jadyn Steinhauer ably handled it. At 77', Alexandria Paul put a booming shot on net that was also saved by Steinhauer.
The Huskies nearly made it 2-0 in the 85th minute, as a shot point blank by Alyssa D'Agnone was saved by Bagi, who also handled a potential rebound to keep Saskatchewan at bay.
The game-tying goal from Cavalcanti came at the net after a long shot by Bisons captain Jessica Tsai forced Steinhauer to leap and make a save. With the Huskies keeper prone to a rebound, the Brazilian forward capitalized, blocking it in to finish the play.
Next up for the Bisons is a home-and-home with the Wesmen. They meet Winnipeg on Thursday, October 21 at Waverley Soccer Complex before their regular season finale at home on Saturday, October 23 at 2 p.m. The Huskies and Cougars meet on October 22 and 24.
