Box Score

The University of Regina Cougars women's hockey team split their weekend series in Manitoba, after falling 5-3 to the Bisons on Sunday afternoon.

Kyleigh Palmer had a hat-trick for Manitoba, and Dée-Ana Marion made 30 saves for the win. Meghan Sherven, Stephanie Sawchuk and Kristin Boan did the scoring for the Cougars, while Jennifer Schmidt took the loss in net.

Both teams came out strong in the opening period, but it would be Manitoba who would strike first. After having a goal disallowed, Kyleigh Palmer beat Cougar's goalie Jennifer Schmidt to give Manitoba a 1-0 lead. That goal also ended Schmidt's shutout streak at 211:37, dating back to October 11th in Lethbridge.

The Cougars would strike back before the end of the period. With just 15.8 seconds remaining, Meghan Sherven buried the rebound off a point shot from Triston Riemer to tie the game 1-1.

Two minutes into the second, Meagan Vestby went in on a partial breakaway and beat Schmidt to put the Bisons up 2-1. Just over three minutes later Stephanie Sawchuk picked up a loose rebound and found the back of the net to tie the game at two. However Manitoba would pull ahead before the period was out, as Palmer scored her second goal of the game to give the Bisons a 3-2 lead.

The Cougars came out strong in the third, and Kristin Boan tied the game once again with her second goal of the year. But once more Manitoba came right back. Less than two minutes later Palmer scored what would prove to be the game winning goal on the power play, beating Schmidt to complete the hat-trick. The Bisons would add one more late in the game, as Caitlin Macdonald scored into an empty Regina net to seal the 5-3 win for Manitoba.

The Bisons improve to 5-4-1 on the season. They will travel to Lethbridge on November 15 for a weekend series with the Pronghorns.

Meanwhile, the Cougar's record drops to 7-3-0, good for 14 points and a share of third place in the Canada West standings. Alberta also has 14 points, while Saskatchewan and UBC are tied for first with identical 7-2-1 records.

The Cougars have next weekend off, and will be back at home on November 15 as they play host to Alberta. The puck drops at the Co-operators Centre at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, and 3:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon.