The University of Regina's women's hockey team pulled out a critical 5-2 victory over the Manitoba Bisons on Friday night at The Co-operators Centre in Regina.
 
Manitoba opened up an early 2-0 advantage off goals by Lauren Warkentin and Jena Barscello, but the Cougars roared back to take the lead late in the second and put the game away with a pair of insurance goals in the third. Lilla Carpenter-Boesch scored twice for the Cougars, while Shaylee Scraba and Paige Hubbard also scored and Heather Fiske collected a late empty-net goal.
 
The win gives the Cougars two crucial points in the Canada West standings as they pull back into a tie with idle Calgary for the sixth and final postseason berth.
 
Warkentin opened the scoring early on with a well-placed shot from the high slot, and just past the midway mark of the first Barscello jammed in her first Canada West goal following a deflected Warkentin shot with the Bisons on the power play.
 
But it was all Cougars from there.
 
Carpenter-Boesch started the comeback with a nice wrist shot from the slot that went off the post and in, drawing the Cougars to within one heading into the first intermission. Scraba tied up the game midway through the second after blocking a Manitoba shot from the point, then going in on a 2-on-0 breakway where she snapped home her second of the season.
 
About five minutes after Scraba's goal, Hubbard scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal when Jadyn Kushniruk slid over a nice pass on a 2-on-1. Carpenter-Boesch knocked home a rebound off a deflected Olivia Leggett point shot to give the Cougars a two-goal cushion with just over five minutes to go.
 
Manitoba falls to 11-6-0 with the loss, though the Bisons still sit in second place in the Canada West standings.
 
Playing for their postseason lives, the Cougars (6-9-2) will consider Saturday's game close to a must-win situation as the Dinos will have two games in hand on them after the weekend. MacEwan is also very much in the playoff hunt, lurking just two points behind Regina with two games in hand on the Cougars.
 
The Saturday contest between the Bisons and the Cougars has a 3:00 PM scheduled start time.