The Manitoba Bisons controlled much of the play Saturday at Wayne Fleming Arena, but a late penalty helped the Cougars carry their 2-1 lead to the final buzzer.
 
The Bisons were less than a day removed from a 5-2 Friday night loss at the hands of the Cougars and heavily adjusted the line combinations coming into today. Assistant bench boss Amanda Schubert said postgame that the adjustments worked.
 
"We controlled that third period and we controlled lots of the play in the first and second, too, and gave ourselves a chance to win against a really good team," she said. "But I think that shows that we're also a really good team."
 
The Cougars put themselves on the board first for the second time this weekend, two minutes and a quarter after puck-drop. Jordyn Hutt set the tone with her third goal of the year by roofing the biscuit after a net-front tie-up off a faceoff.
 
After a fruitless try, the second Cougar powerplay of the day ended early with Brandon, MB native Jori Hansen-Young blasting a shot from the point. Jerzey Watteyne tipped it past netminder Meagan Relf to open a two-goal lead. It was Watteyne's second of the weekend.
 
The score didn't change in Act Two, but Manitoba was able to dictate the pace, outshooting Mount Royal 11-2. Blueliner Ali Staples led the way for Manitoba this afternoon with four shots.
 
Tensions rose after a violent skirmish in front of Cougar goalie Kaitlyn Ross resulted in coincidental penalties. Mount Royal got a key penalty kill a few minutes later and got out of the period unscathed.
 
Manitoba brought the same pace to period three, and solved the Ross puzzle two minutes in. Ross made two quick saves as Staples shoveled a rebound to the net after a Julia Bird beam from the wing, but Bird crashed the cage and buried the third try for her second of the year.
 
The goal breathed yet more life into the Bisons, but Ross stopped chance after chance. The Bisons had a key powerplay opportunity midway through the period, but only managed one shot over the two minutes.
 
Relf kept the Bisons in it with some key saves, including two on Cougar breakaways. Ross stopped all eight third-period Manitoba shots, halting 27 of 28 in the game to grab her second 'dub of the series and lucky 13^th of the season.
 
Schubert was optimistic about the Bisons being competitive after Friday's loss.
 
"I think we just did our gameplan to a tee, and that's really what it came down to," she said. "Unfortunately, the result is the result. Sometimes that happens in sports."
 
The Bisons will likely spend the rest of the day Saturday with an eye on the Trinity Western-Saskatchewan contest, as the TWU Spartans and Bisons came into Saturday tied for the sixth and final Canada West playoff spot.
 
The Bisons will head west to play the Calgary Dinos next weekend. The Cougars will host Regina for two games before playing the Crowchild Classic against the crosstown rival Dinos at Scotiabank Saddledome.