WINNIPEG, Manitoba – The Manitoba Bisons Norah Collins scored the lone goal of the game at 4:11 of the opening period as the Trinity Western Spartans fell 1-0 to the Bisons Saturday afternoon at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg, Man. The loss drops the Spartans to 6-17-1, while the win improves the Bisons to 9-14-1.
 
Third-year Kate Fawcett (Tottenham, Ont.) made 31 saves in the TWU loss, while Emily Shippam stopped all 27 shots to earn the shutout win.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
Manitoba came out firing in the first, out-shooting the Spartans 13-4 while scoring the period's only goal.
 
An extended battle for the puck in the TWU zone was won by Manitoba, with the biscuit eventually landing on Aimee Patrick's stick near the half wall. She fed a pass through traffic right onto the tape of a wide-open Collins' stick, who one-timed it home just outside the Trinity crease.
 
The Spartans also surrendered two penalties in the opening 20, but their special teams remained perfect on the weekend, including two blocked shots by third-year centre Jordan Matthews (Okotoks, Alta.) on Manitoba's second power play.
 
In net, Shippam stopped all four TWU shots, making it 49 out of her last 50 entering the middle frame.
 
The Spartans' best opportunity came with four minutes left, as third-year forward Chloe Reid (Leduc, Alta.) one-timed a shot in transition, and also got her stick on the rebound that was in the air and batted down, but Shippam made the blocker save.
 
Trinity Western peppered Shippam with ten shots in the middle frame, and had plenty of solid looks, but were left off the board entering the third.
 
A two-on-one for the visitors two minutes in went just wide, while numerous shots in the final two minutes off of screens were swallowed up by Manitoba's goalie.
 
Manitoba's best chance came courtesy of Sarah Dennehy, who stole the puck near the boards in the neutral zone with seven minutes to go.
 
She dished the puck to Kate Gregoire, playing in her 100th career game as a Bison, however, her shot from in close was stopped by the blocker of Fawcett, who made 24 saves entering the third.
 
The Spartans applied heavy pressure in the third, trying to find the equalizer. They rolled their top six often, and had multiple chances from in close, but couldn't beat Shippam.
 
Their best chance came two minutes into the period, as second-year forward Olivia Leier (Regina, Sask.) appeared to have an open net from just outside the crease on a rebound, but Shippam shifted quickly from her right to left to make the pad save.
 
The Spartans pulled their goalie late, with Reid getting an excellent chance on a wraparound following a loose puck, but Shippam got her leg over in time to ensure the shutout remained intact.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Peter Hay
"I am proud that we can look in the mirror and know we gave everything we could. Plain and simple if you can't score you can't win and our goals have dried right up which is frustrating when you play so hard and care so much as a team. Unfortunately, this puts the last and final playoff spot out of reach so it's important we stick together and continue to have fun in our last two weekends."
 
NOTABLE

• Manitoba outshot TWU 32-27, with the Bisons finishing 0/3 on the power play and the Spartans finishing 0/1.
• Last night the Spartans fell 2-1 to the Bisons.
• The Spartans are 3-7 lifetime against the Bisons.
• In their last series with Manitoba on November 3 and 4, the Spartans split with the Bisons losing 1-0 and winning 3-0 at home in Langley, B.C.

UP NEXT
The Spartans will now return home to host the Regina Cougars on February 2 and February 3 at the Langley Events Centre. Both games are scheduled for 1 p.m. puck drops and can be seen live on Canadawest.TV.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country, and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
-TW-