After a disappointing weekend following the bye, the Bisons were back on the road Friday night to take on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Manitoba rolled into Saskatchewan, and despite being on their heels for most of the game, were able to take contest 2-1 in double overtime.
Kaitlin Willoughby opened the scoring for Saskatchewan midway through the first. After a Bison shot was blocked, a clearing attempt bounced off the boards and up the ice where Willoughby was waiting. She took the puck, and broke into the Bisons’ zone all alone. A deke to the right caused Bison goaltender Rachel Dyck to stretch out, but Willoughby was able to fire the puck over her pad and in. The goal was Willoughby’s sixth of the season and gave the Huskies the 1-0 lead.
Saskatchewan controlled the game through the first two periods of play, keeping the Bisons to just eight shots through 40 minutes. However, momentum swung the Bisons way in the third frame where Venla Hovi was able to tie things up at one. Lauryn Keen won a faceoff in the Huskies’ end, and sent the puck back to Hovi who was placed at the point. She fired a shot which snuck past Saskatchewan goalie Cassidy Hendricks and under the crossbar, tying the game 1-1 with a little less than five minutes to play.
This goal was followed by some bad news for Hovi and the Bisons, as the Finnish forward earned a game misconduct. Hovi was assessed the misconduct after hitting a Huskies player from behind, however Saskatchewan was unable to capitalize on the power play.
Despite missing one of their top scorers, the Bisons were able to take the game thanks to more heroics from Keen. The game appeared to be headed for a shootout, but with two seconds left on the clock in the second overtime, Keen was able to put her team-leading sixth goal past Hendricks. Keen pounced on a rebound during a mad scramble in front of the Huskies goaltender, and tucked in the goal for the 2-1 win.
Keen now sits with 14 points on the year, one point behind .
With the win the Bisons tie the Huskies for second in the conference. Both teams now sit five points behind the first place UBC Thunderbirds.
