Bisons sweep
Enter playoffs on winning note
Braden Konschuh, the Carillon (University of Regina)
The Bisons’ Stephanie Rurak (19) cuts between two Cougars defenders. The Bisons won both games over the weekend, 2-0, then 3-1.
Karli Colpitts had two goals and an assist over the weekend to lead the No. 8-ranked University of Manitoba Bisons (10-4-0) to a weekend sweep of the hometown University of Regina Cougars (0-12-2) at U of R Field on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, Colpitts’ hard-nosed play in the 33rd minute led to the first goal in a 2-0 victory for Manitoba. She forced a turnover deep in Cougars territory, then kicked a pass that sent Desiree Scott on a breakaway. Scott made no mistake in finishing the play, sliding the ball past Regina goalie Alyssa Stoeck to notch her sixth goal of the season.
The Bisons scored their second goal just before halftime. Colpitts corralled a pass from Jolyn Kwong in the 44th minute two yards beyond the 18-yard box and blasted a shot past Stoeck. It was Colpitts’ ninth goal of the season.
The Bisons defence was relentless, giving the Cougars just a few opportunities to get on the scoreboard. Ashley Forbes made a spectacular save on the Cougars’ rookie forward Michelle Anderson as Anderson broke free on a breakaway in the 21st minute. The Cougars had another chance to cut into the Bisons lead in the 90th minute when Nakia Forsberg tore down the left side and unleashed a left-footed shot, but missed wide by just inches.
Forbes made three saves to record her fourth shutout of the season for the Bisons. Stoeck made four saves for the Cougars. The Bisons outshot the Cougars by a 19-7 margin during the match.
Sunday afternoon saw the Bisons rest Forbes in favour of Chera Kirkpatrick, who made her first start of the season for Manitoba. Though challenged just a few times, Kirkpatrick was solid in making two saves to secure a 3-1 win for the Bisons.
While the Cougars were having trouble getting going offensively, the Bisons were having no such problems. Caley Miskimmin, Colpitts, and Stephanie Rurak all scored within 11 minutes in the first half.
The two wins cap off a record-setting regular season for the Bisons. On top of qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in the team’s three-year history, the Bisons also set a number of new team benchmarks. The team’s 10 wins and 30 points were team bests, outdoing the record-setting six wins and 19 points from a year ago. The Bisons also scored 28 goals during the season, beating out their previous best of 24.
Individually, Colpitts tied one of her teammates’ records of 10 goals in a season. Miskimmin set the mark in 2005. Colpitts’ five game-winning goals were also a new team-high for a season. Forbes’ broke her own team record of three shutouts in a season in recording her fourth shutout on Saturday.
Manitoba finishes the season in third place in Canada West. They continue their great season with their playoff game on Thursday, Nov. 1 against the sixth-placed Alberta Pandas.
