Double-OT goal pushes Bisons past Cougars

Herd earns berth in Canada West final

Vuthana Suon Staff

With a 4-3 double overtime victory over the Regina Cougars on Sunday, Feb. 19 at the University of Regina’s Sherwood Twin Arena, the Bison women’s hockey team has secured a trip to the Canada West final for the second year in a row.

The herd rallied from a 3-2 loss on Friday night to claim a 3-0 shut out win on Saturday, before eventually capping it all off with the double-OT victory. In winning the best-of-three playoff series, the Bisons were able to achieve an upset victory on the road.

The first game of the series saw the Bisons take a 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission before unraveling in the third period and letting Regina’s Kara McGeough score with 1:18 left in regulation.

“We played well enough to win, but it was an unfortunate goal that happened late in the game,” said Bison head coach Jon Rempel. “Our goalie misplayed the puck and got tangled up with our defencemen.”

With their backs against the wall and the rest of the season on the line, the Bisons responded from the heartbreaking loss like true underdogs. They clamped down on defence and made good on their offensive opportunities. Key to this was netminder Stacey Corfield, who turned away all 32 shots she faced.

“I thought it was our best game of the season,” said Rempel. “The outcome was never in question and I thought they responded well after the unfortunate loss the night before.”

The remainder of the Bisons’ playoff run would all come down to the final game of the series.

From the outset, the Cougars fought hard to establish an early presence, taking a 2-0 lead with them into the start of the third period. But Bison captain Anne Hedley would not be denied her final chance to stay alive in the hopes of making the nationals, scoring the first goal for the Bisons. Soon after, Erica Holmes scored to tie it up at 2-2 before Regina scored to regain the lead. Two shifts later, the herd’s Shannon Hoogsteen added a goal to send the game into overtime.

The momentum had now swung to the side of the Bisons.

“We pretty much owned the overtime,” said Rempel. “We just kept pressure on them the whole time and I thought it was just a matter of time before we would score.”

“Steph [Messner] came down the left wing, fought off a check, and went top shelf, right over the goaltender’s glove,” said Rempel. “It was pretty dramatic.”

By defeating Regina, the Bisons have earned the right to take on the nationally first-ranked Alberta Pandas in the Canada West Final this weekend, with the victor proceeding on to the CIS national championships.