WINNIPEG – Venla Hovi scored two minutes into overtime to give the Manitoba Bisons a 2-1 triumph over the visiting UBC Thunderbirds in a battle for first place in the Canada West Saturday afternoon at Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg.

Ranked fourth in U SPORTS, Manitoba capitalized on a Thunderbirds penalty in the extra session, with assists going to Alanna Sharman and Erica Rieder.

With the overtime win, Manitoba moves to 10-4-2-0 and three points ahead of UBC (9-4-1-2) in the battle for first place in Canada West. The Bisons avenged a 3-0 loss to No. 2 UBC the previous night.

"It definitely had a playoff like feel, it was great hockey," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas who was frustrated by the number of penalties called throughout the weekend. "We were loose, we were feeling good and energized and feeling ready to rock, it's just unfortunate we ended up on the penalty kill once again in overtime."

The only other goals of the game came midway through the first period.



The Bisons' Lauren Warkentin wristed a rebound into the top corner of the net, past Thunderbirds goaltender Tory Micklash. The goal came off a shot from Rieder.

On UBC's first power play of the game, Hannah Clayton-Carroll answered with her seventh goal of the season, elevating her into a temporary tie for second place in Canada West goals. Celine Tardif and Emily Costales got credit for the assists.

The hosts led the shot count 8-6 after the opening period. 

The Thunderbirds had two great 2-on-1 chances early in the second but Dyck expertly stonewalled the attempts. For Manitoba, Serhan had two slapshots ring off the goalpost in the game.

UBC finished the weekend 2-for-5 on the power play while the Bisons went 2-for-14.

"Overall, four out of six points on the road against a team coming in as one of the hottest in Canada, for us to come in there and do that is good for us," added Thomas. "In the big picture we're happy with how the weekend went but we still wanted to come away with that win."

Both teams will take a break for the holiday season. On the weekend of January 5 and 6 Manitoba will travel to Alberta while UBC will host the Calgary Dinos.