WINNIPEG — One night after a joyous season opening victory, missed opportunities haunted Bisons women's soccer on Saturday at the West Turf Field.
Facing the visiting Regina Cougars in front of 80 fans, the Bisons missed two chances on penalty shots in the first half — one by Jessica Tsai and the other by Bianca Cavalcanti.
Regina held a clean sheet around those heartbreakers, as first-year Regina keeper Allyson Ford made 15 saves and Nicole Klassen scored the match's lone marker. With the 1-0 win, the Cougars split the weekend series, and both teams move to 1-1-0.
"Soccer is all about momentum and key moments in the game — and of course we had two huge opportunities we could have used and could have won the game," said Bisons head coach Vanessa Martinez Lagunas.
"It didn't happen, and we let it affect us through the whole game. We just didn't let it go."
The first missed penalty shot came very early in the match. A hand ball in the box by the Cougars gave the Bisons' captain Tsai an excellent chance. Her shot, however, had a narrow margin and missed wide; Ford guessed correctly, leaping to her left and suffocating the angle.
A busy series in the middle section of the first half ended up being decisive. Second-year Bisons keeper Alexis Anderson punched out a Regina corner in the 20th. Shortly after, fifth-year Shaylyn Dyck was the last line of defence against more chaos in the box, deflecting a push wide to safety.
Regina wouldn't be held off for long, though. The first-year Saskatoon native Klassen blasted a shot from the corner of the box for her first U SPORTS goal, beating Anderson and giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
Manitoba had a golden chance to respond, though. Trying to work in from the sideline, Bisons forward Jordan Cistarelli was taken down in the box. Bianca Cavalcanti took the penalty shot this time — fresh off two goals in her Canada West debut on Friday — but Ford once again read the shot perfectly, leaping left and making the stop.
In the second half, the Bisons put pressure on, and the chippy nature of a back-to-back against the same opponent started to show. Five cautions were shown in the match — three in the second half — as the two teams wrestled for momentum.
"It's something new to us to have these back-to-back games against the same team," said Martinez Lagunas. "I think, mentally, they are very tough for both teams."
"The motivation is not the same, but we need to cope with it — we're certainly going to learn to cope with it and be better next time."
At the death, Manitoba had their best chance of the half, pushing forward off a free kick in Regina territory. A bomb by keeper Karina Bagi — who came in for Anderson at halftime — was ably handled by Ford, though.
Bisons soccer now head out for their first road series of the season, taking on Saskatchewan next weekend on Friday, September 17 and Saturday, September 18.
