The University of Manitoba Bison women’s soccer team lost a pair of games this weekend against the University of Alberta Pandas and the Mount Royal University Cougars.
The Bisons have now lost four games in a row, and are now tied for sixth with the Winnipeg Wesmen in the Prairie Division, with a record of 1-3-1.
Saturday
The Bisons lost their opening game of the weekend by a score of 1-0. The Pandas got their lone goal in the second half, when Brooke Lang headed home a Jamie Pasemko corner kick in the 72nd minute.
“One open player and she put it in. These teams if you give them one chance, they take advantage of it,” Bison head coach Vanessa Martinez Lagunas said postgame.
Right before the halftime whistle, the Pandas had a glorious scoring chance. Off a corner kick, the ball flew off a Panda and off the crossbar. Panda forward Karissa McNutt fired the rebound up and off the bar again. The ball ended up in a flurry of legs in the six-yard box, but Bison goalkeeper Justina Jarmoszko managed to keep the ball out.
“Justina has been really consistent in most of the matches. She made some great saves to keep us in the game,” Martinez Lagunas said.
After getting pushed around in the first half, the Bisons had some chances of their own in the second half. Bison midfielder and captain Amanda Wong sent a free kick off the crossbar in the 46th minute. A few minutes later, Florin Wagner whipped in a low free kick, but Panda goalkeeper Cassie Bazzarelli was equal to the task.
The Pandas managed to suffocate the Bisons for the final 15 minutes, preventing Manitoba from making any type of comeback.
Sunday
On a wet, cold afternoon in Winnipeg, the Mount Royal University Cougars beat the Bisons 3-0 Sunday.
Cougar forward Kaitlin Brown scored the first goal early on, tapping home a Navroop Virk cross in the fourth minute. Six minutes later, Cougar forward Erin Holt danced her way into the Manitoba 18-yard box, and fired a hard shot over Jarmoszko.
Bison midfielder Hailey Lavarias had a good chance to split the lead in half in the 15th minute, but her shot was swallowed up by Cougar goalkeeper Cailyn Leeson. Five minutes later, Bison midfielder Rebecca Martin had a shot off a corner, but it rolled just past the post.
In the 22nd minute, Cougar defender Caitlin Heim scored a highlight reel goal. Heim collected the ball 30 yards out, and took a shot, watching it sail into the top right corner. Manitoba had another good chance off a corner just before the half, with Lavarias watching her shot go just past the post.
With the rain coming down harder, and the Cougars content to sit on their 3-0 lead, the second half was lackluster.
Manitoba had a couple chances to cut into the Mount Royal lead, however. Wong curled a low shot from the edge of the 18-yard box in the 52nd minute, but Leeson was there to stymie her.
Perhaps the best chance the Bisons had was when Wagner floated in a high cross, which found Sara Schur, who aimed her header for the far corner, but the shot just went wide. Alyssa Daley appeared to find the back of the net when she took a shot from in tight, but it went off the side netting.
Despite dominating possession in the second half, Manitoba could not find any offence, and the Cougars held on to win 3-0.
The Bisons head out on the road on Sept.30 and Oct. 1 to play the Calgary Dinos and Lethbridge Pronghorns.
