WINNIPEG – A third comeback win for Manitoba against the Saskatchewan Huskies completed a weekend sweep, as the Herd ended the regular season in memorable fashion with a 2-1 win on seniors night at Wayne Fleming Arena.
 
Two goals in six seconds in the second period from forwards Nora Collins and Aimee Patrick gave Manitoba the one-goal victory. Both play-makers concluded the regular season with 12 goals, the fifth-most in a season in school history, and the most since their coach Jordy Zacharias amassed the same amount in 2018-19.
 
"This was a pretty complete weekend for our team," said Zacharias. "To go down one and get two quick ones and then be able to hold and play a poised, complete game is something to be pretty proud of."
 
Prior to the game, Manitoba honoured Seniors Camryn Gillis, Camille Enns, Rachel Gottfried, Hanna Bailey, Ashley Keller, and Captain Kylie Lesuk. Gillis, Enns and Keller all played over 100 regular season games by Saturday evening.
 
Manitoba held the majority of the puck possession in the first.
 
Keller spurred a good string of chances for the Bisons at the start of the period. A good drive to the net by Keller forced Saskatchewan netminder Colby Wilson to make an early stop.
 
Later, an inspired end-to-end skate from Collins resulted in her speeding past all the Saskatchewan defencemen, but she just missed the net from the point.
 
Against the run of play, Saskatchewan put themselves on the scoreboard first.
 
Having gained confidence after successfully killing off the Manitoba power play, the Huskies created a numbers up opportunity around the Bisons net.
 
After a wrap-around shot deflected into a loose area, Sara Kendall took the puck, and fired it bar-down, giving Saskatchewan the lead.
 
Manitoba had the answer though. Two quick goals from the Bisons drove the intensity through the roof for the duration of the second period.
 
The first goal came as a result of a good possession play by Collins, who kept the puck in the Huskie's zone until her team followed up with her.
 
Defenceman Louise Fergusson shot the puck towards the Saskatchewan net, and Collins was rewarded for her efforts. Collins redirected the shot five-hole past the Huskies Goalie, her second of the weekend.
 
Manitoba's second goal came just six seconds later.
 
Right off the draw, a poor back-pass from Saskatchewan left Manitoba's points leader Patrick opem with space. She sped past the Huskies defenceman and fired the puck home to give the Bisons the lead.
 
Manitoba's two goals spurred a fiery exchange between the two sides for the rest of the period. 
 
After a scrum broke out that filled the teams' penalty boxes with two players respectively, the rest of the period contained thrilling end-to-end entertainment.
 
The Huskies' best chance came from forward Ava Bergman, as a good passing sequence from Saskatchewan gave Bergman a one-on-one opportunity, but she shot the puck wide of the net.
 
Manitoba dominated the start of the third period, hemming the Huskies within their zone.
 
Keller got an opportunity at the point to put the Bisons up as she backhanded the puck towards the net, but Wilson made the pad save.
 
Wilson again came up big for the Huskies, as Julia Bird made a lunging pass to Collins with open ice at the point, but again was denied by the Saskatchewan netminder.
 
The Huskies grew into the third as the time ticked away, but the Manitoba defense held strong, limiting Saskatchewan's shots to six within the period.
 
Bisons netminder Paige Fischer came up big in the dying minutes to preserve Manitoba's lead.
 
A pokecheck put the puck on Saskatchewan's Aeryn Flanagan's stick who skated one-on-one against Fischer, but the Manitoba netminder ate the chance up. The Bisons closed out the game 2-1, to finish their regular season on a high.
 
"Moving through this last stretch here, it's just been focusing on stringing games together, back to back," said Zacharias while discussing her thoughts on moving into the postseason. "I think we showed that we could do that this weekend."
 
You can catch the Bisons next week in their quarter-final playoff series against Trinity Western, the first game is Friday at 7 p.m. CST.