Women's Hockey | 11/9/2017 11:46:00 AM

FRIDAY: at Manitoba, 7 p.m. (CST), Wayne Fleming Arena
SATURDAY: at Manitoba, 4 p.m. (CST), Wayne Fleming Arena

The University of Regina women's hockey team returns to the ice this weekend following the conference-wide bye week, with a matchup against the Manitoba Bisons.

The Cougars and Bisons enter the weekend with similar records, as the Cougars sit at 4-2-1-1 while Manitoba sports a 5-3-0-0 mark. The Cougars have already played the top three teams in Canada West, splitting weekend matchups with UBC, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Catching up with the Cougars
Regina's most recent action was against the No. 1-ranked Alberta Pandas, a weekend which saw the Cougars take a 3-2 shootout win on Friday before Alberta rebounded for a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday. Bailey Braden and Jaycee Magwood (pictured) are tied for second in the Canada West scoring race, as both have registered four goals and three assists through eight games. Rookie Jordan Kulbida is right behind with six points and Merissa Zerr has five assists to her credit.

Jane Kish has been impressive in her five starts, with four wins and one overtime loss. The third-year goaltender has posted a 1.74 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage. Morgan Baker has made three appearances in net, with a 3.34 GAA and .894 save percentage.

Bisons Brief
Manitoba's last action came on the road against Mount Royal University, where the Bisons earned the sweep with 4-3 and 1-0 wins. Venla Hovi is the Canada West's leading scorer coming into the weekend with two goals and seven assists. Jordyn Zacharias is also near the top with seven points while Alanna Sharman has chipped in with six.

Rachel Dyck has started five games in net for the Bisons with a 3.63 goals-against average and a .816 save percentage. Rookie Lauren Taraschuk has been solid with three wins in four appearances and a 1.20 GAA while stopping pucks at a .938 rate.

The History Books
Manitoba took three of the four regular season matchups a season ago, with the lone Cougar win coming in overtime on home ice in January.