Written by: Kelly O'Donnell, Bison Sports
WINNIPEG - It was the #4 Manitoba Bisons versus the Lethbridge Pronghorns women's hockey goaltender Alicia Anderson in a game that went into a shootout on Friday, Nov 17, 2017 at the Wayne Fleming Arena. The Bisons ended up taking the win in a shootout when Bisons forward Jordyn Zacharias, number one scoring leader in the league, scored the lone goal of the night.
Anderson has made 129 saves out of 132 shots in her last three conference games, including 39 saves in the Friday contest.
"Obviously (Lethbridge's) goaltender has had an incredible year," said Bisons coach Jon Rempel. "Save, after save, after save."
The win brings Manitoba to 8-3-0-0 record and six game win streak while Lethbridge drop to 4-5-1-0 in the CW standings.
The first period saw zero goals for either team, but not for lack of effort. Manitoba came in strong, leading the shots on net 20-3 to Lethbridge. It didn't faze Pronghorn goaltender Anderson though, as she continued to make unlikely saves from every angle throughout the period. At nine minutes, the Bisons fired three, quick, hard shots within seconds that were all blocked by Anderson.
Both teams struggled to put the puck in the net again in the second period, leaving the game scoreless at the end of the 40 minutes. Manitoba eased back to six shots on net, and one shot on net for the Pronghorns.
Pronghorns forward Denzelle Bourgeios gained a penalty for body checking with seven minutes left in the third period, but the Bisons couldn't manage to slip past Anderson's golden reflexes during the power play. The third period continued the no score theme, bringing the teams into overtime.
Overtime saw the battle stay in the visitor territory for the majority of the five minutes. Manitoba had several high-quality scoring chances, but Anderson knocked them away. One minute into overtime, Bisons forward Sheridan Oswald came up the right side on a breakaway, slipping to the left side and aiming high, only to be stopped, once again, by Anderson.
Double overtime started with four-on-four man play. With 2:30 seconds left, Bisons forward Lauryn Keen came up center ice on a breakaway and shot center net into Anderson's pads. Shortly after, Keen received a penalty bringing the game to a four-on-three power play. Neither team managed to score, which brought the teams into a shootout.
Bisons forward Allison Sexton was up first in the shootout, skating up center ice and colliding with Anderson, bringing both players down. Lethbridge forward Delaney Duchek was next, and took the shot up close in the crease, jamming it into Bisons goalie Rachel Dyck's pads.
Bisons forward Jordyn Zacharias scored the first goal of the shootout, coming up the right side and shooting low on Anderson.
Pronghorns forward, Alli Borrow, was up next, and shot center net, saved by Dyck. Bisons forward Alana Sharman came up shooting from the left side and Anderson did a full extension on the splits to save it.
Finally, Lethbridge forward Brett Campbell came up and shot in to the pads of Dyck, finalizing that the Manitoba Bisons had won 1-0 against the Pronghorns, in what seemed to be a never-ending match.
"It was a tough game," said Dyck. "It was very lopsided so it was tough to stay in it for the long haul, but I just found ways to say focused." Dyck made 15 saves in the victory.
The Bisons will take on the Pronghorns again tomorrow at 1 p.m. CT at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg.
Three Stars
1. Jordyn Zacharias - MAN (shootout winner)
2. Alicia Anderson - LETH (39 saves)
3. Rachel Dyck - MAN (15 saves)