WINNIPEG – Alyssa Rasmuson's second period one-timer served as the eventual game-winner on Saturday afternoon's game at "The Flem, as the Manitoba Bisons defeated the MacEwan Griffins 3-1 to improve to 8-9-2-3 while the Griffins fell to 5-15-1-1.

The first period began with a strong offensive push from MacEwan. Fresh off their upset win the night prior, the Griffins came with pressure early against goaltender Jenna Goertzen. Goertzen who had her Bisons debut in early January, held firm in the net and kept the game scoreless.

Her counterpart for the Griffins, Taya Currie, battled in the crease to keep the Griffins at level as Dana Goertzen, Norah Collins and several other Bison forwards peppered shots on net. Hanna Bailey and Dana Goertzen both took two-minute penalties in the opening frame, but both were killed off with relative ease from the Bisons.

The physicality was constant in the first period with plenty of board battles and finished checks throughout. Manitoba had plenty of high danger chances but were held off the scoreboard as the first period ended scoreless 0-0 tie. The shots however showed a 14-5 edge for the Herd.

Goertzen was tested early in the second period when a turnover neutral ice sprung a two on one the other way. The puck was fed across to Allee Isley — who scored last night's game winner — but Goertzen shut the door with the pads to keep the game tied under five minutes into the middle frame.

The Bisons had a prime opportunity of their own when Dana Goertzen's line broke into the zone on a two on one. The first shot was handled by Currie, but chaos ensued in the crease, with the final Herd shot of the flurry ringing off the post and into the corner with 13:15 left in the period.

The Bisons were rewarded with a powerplay of their own as Collins strong skating on the perimeter of the offensive zone forced a tripping minor from Megan Dolynchuk. The Herd thought they opened the scoring on the ensuing powerplay when Brenna Nicol banged home a loose rebound in the crease, but the goal was then called back for a kicking motion.

The Herd didn't let it phase them and under 30 seconds later, the powerplay struck. Utilizing Julia Bird at the point, she walked around a MacEwan defender to the right circle and wristed a hard shot over the left pad of Currie to open the scoring 1-0.

The Bisons continued to charge with a head of steam and under two minutes later Rasmuson doubled the lead on a two on one pass across from Collins. Rasmuson had her first tally of the season the night prior and Bird grabbed her second assist of the afternoon.

"She's got size, and she's got speed, and that's one thing that she's been doing the second half is just driving through open ice and through that space to be able to give herself opportunities to receive the puck and generate scoring chances and that's why she got rewarded this weekend," said Bisons head coach Jordan Colliton on Rasmuson's two goal weekend.

The Bisons strong second period gave the Herd a 2-0 lead to cap off 40 minutes of play with a 25-11 edge on the shot count.

"I thought yesterday we had a lot of shots from the perimeter, and we didn't put enough pressure on her inside the dots. So, when you do that, you make a goalie feel really good and confident. So today, our challenge was to make her move to get people to that area to create a little bit of chaos," said Colliton on overcoming a hot goaltender in Currie.

The Bisons continued their waves of pressure in the first half of the third period, maximizing zone time and limiting MacEwan opportunities. At times, whole minutes passed in the Griffins zone, but the Bisons were unable to expand on their lead.

MacEwan found life with 8:17 to go in the third period. An unassuming shot from the point by Shaelyn Hopkins weaved its way past Goertzen to cut the Herd lead to 2-1. Manitoba had a quick opportunity afterwards to retake the two-goal lead, but Aimee Patrick's two on one shot hit the right post dead on.

The Herd then killed a Patrick penalty for hooking and iced the game with 1:40 to go with Louise Fergusson hitting the empty net to give Manitoba the 3-1 victory. The final shot count ended 36-13 for the Bisons. Goertzen collected her second win of the season stopping 12 of 13.

"You know, as a sister, I'm obviously very thrilled that she's getting a chance to prove herself and in front of our grandparents and our parents, just getting a start at home and hearing her name get called out as a sister, I'm very happy, and as a captain, it's always nice to see someone get off the bench and get their chance to shine and I think she did that," said Dana Goertzen on her sister's performance.

The Herd now head on the road next week to take on the University of Alberta Pandas.