EDMONTON - Fifth-year Bison Jessica Tsai scored from the penalty spot for the only goal in a 1-0 Manitoba Bisons victory over the Alberta Pandas on a chilly and windy Saturday afternoon at Foote Field.

Manitoba exorcises their earlier 4-2 loss to Alberta earlier this season with the win, and moves to 3-6-0 on the campaign. For the Pandas, the loss drops them to 5-3-1 and breaks a six-game unbeaten streak which has culminated in a third place position in the Prairie Division.

Being that it is October the playoff implications are becoming stronger with every result, with Alberta still holding a one-point advantage over Saskatchewan for the third position.

Manitoba keeper Holly Dyker was impressive in the contest, parrying all nine shots she faced for her third clean sheet of the year. Her counterpart, Autumn Wynn saved five of six shots and also had a strong game, only conceding the penalty from Tsai.

The visitors were impressive from the first whistle, as they completely dominated play in the first half, rarely leaving the Pandas own end.

The shots were 8-4 (3-2 on target), but if there were a possession statistic it would have been heavily favouring the visitors who were phenomenal with the ball, and an aggressive press was successful in getting it back. However, the hosts were effective in preventing any high-danger chances as evidenced by the shots on target number. The squads entered the break even with a 0-0 scoreline.

The second half started with a more concerted effort on the home side to get pressure, but it was the Bisons who struck first in the 62nd minute.

A great ball played into the box led to a dust up that referee Noel Kelly deemed penalty-worthy, and the captain Tsai made no mistake from the spot for her fifth of the year to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

The Pandas played much better until the final whistle, constantly in the Manitoba end, but were unable to beat Dyker as the 1-0 advantage was maintained for the win.

The Pandas play host to the Winnipeg Wesmen tomorrow afternoon, while the Bisons stay in the city with a matchup against the MacEwan Griffins.