The Bisons women’s soccer team headed to Saskatchewan this weekend, with games against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday and the University of Regina Cougars on Sunday.
The herd made its first stop in Saskatoon, Sask. to battle the Huskies in a nail-biter at Griffiths Stadium.
The score was 0-0 going into the 85th minute of play when Huskies midfielder Hailey Weber tucked the ball behind goalkeeper Karina Bagi off a Huskies corner kick by midfielder Jade Houmphanh. The Huskies held on to win the game with the late goal.
Three yellow cards were handed out: one to Huskies defender Kieran McKercher, and two to the Bisons against forward Janelle Chomini and Bagi, as she ran out of the box in the 77th minute to defend her goal.
Saskatchewan also had more shots in the game with 18 overall and seven on net, while the Bisons had 10 shots overall with four shots on goal — one from Chomini, one from captain Jessica Tsai and two from fellow midfielder Taryn Cabak.
The Bisons also only had one corner in the game compared to the Huskies 11, with their final corner going in for the lone goal.
The herd’s silver lining in the loss came courtesy of its goalkeeper. With Bagi’s six saves in the game against the Huskies, she reached third overall in saves in Bisons soccer program history with 168 saves, and has now recorded 174 saves after the second game of the weekend.
The Bisons had another strong start against the Cougars at University of Regina Field. Cabak scored out of the gate in the seventh minute of the game with a fantastic pass from forward Camila Goldsztein.
The herd held off the Cougars until just before halftime when Cougars midfielder Allyson Schneider scored for Regina in the 42nd minute after Bisons defender Ava Memka was called for a foul on Cougars forward Peyton Enns in the box, leading to a penalty shot. Schneider took the shot, and the teams went into halftime tied 1-1.
The defensive battle continued between the two teams until midway through the second half, when the Cougars scored two unanswered goals within 10 minutes, the first by Enns and the second by midfielder Kirsten Koellmel. The Bisons ultimately lost 3-1.
Once again three yellow cards were handed out, one each to Bison defenders Breyanna Johnston-Krulicki and Shannon Lee and one to Cougars defender Sierra Kolodziej, this time all within the dying minutes of the game.
This game, Manitoba led with three corner kicks compared to Regina’s two, but unfortunately couldn’t capitalize on them.
The Bisons had nine shots throughout the match, including five shots on goal, one by defender Evelyn Lekivetz, one by forward Tabata Bravo, two courtesy of captain Tsai and of course one by Cabak with the goal. The Cougars registered 11 shots with nine shots on net, including the three goals.
The herd will be heading home with a 1-5 record to defend its home turf next weekend in two prime-time games, the first against the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves on Friday and the second against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Saturday.
