LETHBRIDGE — Led by the two-goal performance of Kianna Dietz in a three-goal first period, the Lethbridge Pronghorns overpowered the Manitoba Bisons of 4 – 1 on Saturday to sweep their opening weekend series.
Eryn Johanson led the Pronghorns with a goal and two assists in the game, helping to snuff out any momentum held by the Bisons. Veteran Forward Jordyn Zacharias scored Manitoba's only goal.
Lethbridge goaltender Alicia Anderson saved all but one in her 29-save outing. Manitoba starter Kaitlyn Nault was pulled after the first period after allowing three goals on 15 shots in the first frame. Amanda Schubert saved 17 of 18 in relief.
Manitoba came out firing early in the game, getting five quality shots on the Anderson-held net in the first five minutes of the game, with the Lethbridge netminder holding strong.
Akin to the series opening game on Friday, it was the home side who struck first. As a scramble for the puck ensues directly in front of Nault, Dietz managed to get the puck on her stick and flick it into the Bisons net, giving her team the early lead.
Lethbridge would get into a bit more of the penalty trouble that plagued them late in Friday's game, but they would manage to kill off all three Bisons power-play chances.
Off of a neutral zone faceoff win, the Pronghorns found a good chance on the far-side of the rush, as Madison Porter's slapshot would be poorly controlled by Nault, and Mila Verbicky picked up the rebound to feed an open Dietz. She would slide the puck past the Bisons goalie to give her side a two-goal lead.
Pressing the visitors in their own end late in the first frame would lead to another tally for the Pronghorns, as freshman forward Sage Sansregret puts the easy wrap-around in behind a disoriented Nault, giving Lethbridge a three-goal lead heading to the dressing room.
Manitoba would be gifted another power-play opportunity early in the second period, as Erin Johanson gets sent to the box. The Bisons capitalized eleven seconds into their power-play, as a Jenai Buchanan shot ricocheted off the boards behind Anderson to an unmarked Zacharias, who tucked it behind Anderson for the Bisons answer to Lethbridge's three first-period goals.
The Pronghorns pressed throughout the period for an answer to the Manitoba goal, and with under four minutes remaining, they did just that. Johanson would get the puck at the half-boards and slip a hard pass to Kyra Grieg, who extended herself past a sliding Schubert to tuck the puck in for Lethbridge's fourth tally of the game, and the only other goal of the period.
Period three was relatively uneventful, with no scoring and only one penalty in the frame taken by Lethbridge's Kirana Stocker sitting two minutes for body-checking. Manitoba was unable to close the lead on that fifth powerplay of the game, leaving the score line in the third as it was to close the second.
With the win, Lethbridge improves to 2-0 on the season, while Manitoba falls to 0-2.
The Pronghorns will be in Regina next weekend to take on the University of Regina Cougars. The Bisons will return home to host the Mount Royal Cougars.
