Bisons sweep the U of S Huskies
Bisons women’s hockey team take two at home from the Huskies
Tessa Vanderhart, staff
Photo by Tessa Vanderhart
A goal 45 seconds into the game by Addie Miles jet-propelled the first few minutes of the No. 4-ranked University of Manitoba Bisons’ Jan. 11 game against the No. 10-ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies — and looked like an indicator that the Bisons women’s hockey team would dominate the two teams’ weekend series. And while the U of M team came out ahead, the play was anything but dominating.
After the Bisons’ first burst of energetic play burned out, the first period was marred by easily a dozen dump-and-chase disappointments and a weak power play, in which the Herd were actively dominated.
Saskatchewan, however, despite being physically bigger, smoother skaters, and more talented puck-handlers, gave up another goal with 1:30 left in the first period — Miles’ second of the game. It may be that netminder Vanessa Frederick was off-put by the jeers of residence students — in loud, proud, painted attendance because of this game’s spirit cup status — particularly the St. John’s College students, who spent the evening coming up with clever cheers such as “You suck!” and “Goalie!!”
The second period started to follow the same pattern as the first: the Bisons came in with a bang but quickly regressed to dumping and chasing, albeit with a few spectacular scoring opportunities thrown in. This period marked the first real action for Bisons goalie Stacey Corfield, who seems to have a talent for giving rebounds so huge they help the Bisons clear the zone. Huskies goalie Frederick really got to shine, as her now more conservative play staved off several scrambles in front of the net. It wasn’t long, though, before the Bisons learned the defensive weaknesses of their opponents and started moving quickly to capitalize. The Huskies stepped it up, too — their offence performed some particularly strong neutral-zone defence, enough to keep the period’s goal count empty until, with one minute and four seconds left in the frame, Katherine O’Rourke put a beautiful one in for the Bisons to give them a 3-0 lead heading into the third.
And then — wow! The third period began with the expected Bisons burst of energy but then it just . . . kept . . . going. Around the 12-minute mark it became clear that the two teams were not going to settle back down. Although the Huskies’ game improved, at last the rankings difference so far this season — the Bisons’ 13 points, the Huskies’ 6 — was justified. The Herd capitalized on this dominance by putting two more in the net, the first a 1:19 tip-in from Chantal Larocque, the latter a beautiful point shot by Amanda Schnell that Frederick didn’t see coming, zooming past her with only 4:14 left.
Most amazingly, despite the five-point lead, both teams continued their thrilling play until the buzzer sounded.
On Saturday night (Jan. 12), the Bisons, despite having their three-game shutout streak snapped just two minutes into the game, managed to come out ahead, 5-4. Bisons goalie Dana Hoogsteen saved 14 shots to preserve the Bisons’ win, while Leanne Kisil, Chantal Larocque, Amy McQuoid, Stephanie Messner, and Katherine O’Rourke scored.
The Bisons will need to keep up their fantastic play this weekend, when they travel to the University of Alberta to face the No. 2-ranked Alberta Pandas on Jan. 18 and 19.
Meanwhile, the Huskies will travel to Lethbridge to preserve their fourth-place spot in Canada West against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
