QUICKLY
The University of Regina's women's hockey team scored a 4-1 victory over Manitoba on Saturday night as the Cougars closed out the first half of their Canada West schedule at The Co-operators Centre in Regina.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a scoreless first period, the Cougars got on the board with two goals in the final five minutes of the second. Trinity Grove scored her first of the season after taking a centering pass from Pippy Pritchard and slipping a shot just inside the far post. Makena Kushniruk stepped into a snap shot from the left circle and put it high blocker side just two and a half minutes later, sending the U of R into the second intermission with a 2-0 advantage.
• The Cougars extended the lead early in the third with Manitoba serving a cross checking minor. Paige Hubbard drove to the net and had her initial shot stopped, but was able to bat it out of the air and in to notch her team-leading sixth goal of the season.
• Manitoba scored later on in the third when Aimee Patrick found Sadie Keller in front of the Regina net, but that was as close as the Bisons would come. Kaylee Dyer sealed the win with a shorthanded empty-net goal from 180 feet away with a minute and a half to go.

NOTES

• Natalie Williamson stopped 30 of Manitoba's 31 shots. Williamson is second in Canada West with a 1.10 goals-against average and leads the conference outright with a .960 save percentage.
• The Cougars (8-4-4) jump past Manitoba for second place in Canada West's five-team East Division.
• Megan Long assisted on both of Regina's third-period goals to notch her second multi-point effort in her last four games.
• Grove also had a two-point night. She chalked up an assist on Kushniruk's marker in addition to her own goal.

NEXT UP
The Cougars will break for the month before returning to action the second weekend of January with a pair of U-Prairie Challenge matchups against Saskatchewan. They'll play the Huskies in Regina on Friday, Jan. 10 and in Saskatoon the following night.