Written by: Reynold Beniza

WINNIPEG – The Manitoba Bisons women's soccer team opened their regular season with a win over the visiting Regina Cougars in Manitoba's first game of the weekend at the University of Manitoba Turf Fields on Friday, September 5. Bisons rookie Bruna Mavignier continued her point streak from the pre-season as she opened up the scoring for the home side in a strong display of what may come in the future for Bisons' women's soccer.

Manitoba came into the match looking to start fresh after finishing with a final record of 1-7-4 and missing the playoffs in the 2013-14 season. Regina had beaten the Bisons the last two times they visited Manitoba and were looking to extend their streak to three coming off of a 5-5-2 record last year. 

The start of the match was a defensive struggle as both teams looked to open up the scoring early. The Bisons and Cougars found themselves with some chances early on off of turnovers, but neither team was able to make the most of their opportunities. But as soon as things started heating up, wild weather put a freeze on the game, sending both teams hurrying inside to escape the wind, rain, and hail.

When the match resumed after a approximately 40 minutes, the Bisons wasted no time getting on the board when the match resumed as Mavignier beat Cougars keeper Kacey McFee with a well-placed kick to the bottom left corner at the 8 minute mark. Mavignier, the rookie forward from Brazil, was coming off of a stint as the University of Manitoba Bisons Player of the Week but had help from Camille Plett on the assist. After the goal, the Cougars played Mavignier a little tighter for the rest half but still struggled to create significant chances for themselves against Manitoba's solid defense.

The Cougars started the second half controlling the time of possession, but Manitoba found themselves with a few close breakaways. While Regina defended against these chances well, one rush led to a corner kick for Bisons midfielder Megan Graca. After the kick, Manitoba's Sarah Haiko found the space in the box for a header into the net to put the Bisons up 2-0 at the 54 minute mark.

The visitors finally answered with a goal of their own after struggling to break through Manitoba's defense at the 84 mioute mark after Regina's Adriana McCullough tipped the ball past Bisons keeper Martina Arran with a header after a kick from Cougars midfielder Daniela Castro.

With four minutes of added play-time, the Cougars increased the pressure on Manitoba and took numerous shots on Arran in the closing minutes of the match, but the Bisons held on take their first win of the 2014-15 season.

"I think we scored two beautiful goals, and they were due to things that we've been working on," said Bisons head coach Vanessa Martinez-Lagunas. "It's great to see that they've paid off."

With the win, the Manitoba Bisons start their season 1-0-0, already matching their number of wins from last season, while the Regina Cougars sit at 0-1-0 after the loss.

The Bisons continue their regular season opening weekend as they host the Saskatchewan Huskies to University of Manitoba Turf Fields at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, September 6 while Regina will play at Winnipeg on Saturday.