The University of Regina Cougars women's soccer team fell 2-1 to the University of Manitoba Bisons as both teams opened up their respective Canada West schedules in Winnipeg on Friday night.

Both teams came out aggressive but the game came to a swift halt less than ten minutes in, as rain, hail and lightning in the area postponed the match for approximately 40 minutes.
 

When the game resumed, the Cougars found themselves in an early deficit as Manitoba's Bruna Mavignier opened the scoring in the 8th minute. Mavignier, a rookie from Brazil, took a feed from Camille Plett and slid a low shot by Cougars goalkeeper Kacey McFee into the bottom left corner.

Mavignier's strike was the only goal of the first half.

The Cougars opened the second half controlling the time of possession, but Manitoba found themselves with a corner kick in the 54th minute. Bisons captain Sarah Haiko made no mistake, potting a well-placed header off the Megan Graca cross.

The Cougars did manage to get on the board, as Racquel Marshall crossed a free kick into the box in the 84th minute. Adriana McCullough, who played 15 minutes for the Cougars, headed the cross past Manitoba keeper Martina Arran into the left corner of the net, but it was as close as the Cougars would get.

Regina had multiple shots on net in extra time, but Manitoba stood strong. Arran made eight saves on the night. McFee stopped four shots for Regina in the match.
 

Nine different Cougars combined for 15 shots, nine of which were on net. Shayla Kapila had two shots on net for the visitors and was one of four Cougar outfielders to play the full 90 minutes.
 

Regina had beaten the Bisons in their past two visits to Winnipeg. With the win, the Bisons match their win total from last year.
 

The Cougars (0-1-0) are to meet the University of Winnipeg Wesmen (0-1-0) on Saturday evening, with the match set to begin at 6:30 p.m. CDT.

The teams met twice in non-conference play in Regina, with each team winning once.