October 20 - First it was former no. 1 UBC Thunderbirds, then the fourth-ranked Trinity Western Spartans, and now the first-place Manitoba Bisons. With a 1-0 victory, the University of Victoria Vikes has successfully avenged all three of their earlier road losses to the top teams in the Canada West.

In the 26th minute, Vikes striker Alli Bach (3rd, Parksville, BC) scored the game's only goal for her league-leading ninth score of the season. The Manitoba line of defense seemed frozen, presuming an offside call, while Bach reacted quickly and lofted the ball into the right side of the goal. Fourth-year defender Sarah Cameron was responsible for the assist.

Manitoba's potent offense was kept in check through the entire first half, with their first shot not coming until 38 minutes had passed. Caley Miskimmin forced UVic 'keeper Kasia Giwazda (3rd, Warsaw, Poland) to make a diving save from close range, in what amounted to the Bisons only opportunity of the half. The Bisons managed four shots on the afternoon, with two of those on target.

"I'm very pleased we took points. Manitoba is a very good team," said Vikes head coach Tracy David. "Early in the season I think they stole the game from us, so it was good to get some revenge."

In the Vikes season-opening loss to the Bisons, Manitoba scored twice in the final 10 minutes of play to win 2-1. Manitoba tried to emulate that performance with a late run of urgency, creating several opportunities in the Vikes end. Gwiazda thwarted a dangerous late corner by Karli Colpitts to hang on for her fifth shutout of the season. Gwiazda made stopped both shots sent her way to hand the Bisons just their second shutout loss.

The Vikes had 15 shots, and Manitoba goalie Ashley Forbes made nine saves. The Vikes forced much of the action in the Manitoba zone and generated six corner kick attempts. Sondra Contumelias (5th, Smithers, BC) produced four shots for UVic.

The start of the match was temporarily delayed when one of UVic's many rabbits surfaced through a hole in the goalmouth. With just five minutes to kick off, a rabbit hole was found on the west end of the field, occupied by eight newborn bunnies. The maintenance crew removed the rabbits and worked quickly to fill the hole and restore the field.

The Vikes will resume action Saturday against the last-place Regina Cougars. In the two team's previous meeting, in early September, the Vikes blanked Regina 5-0 behind Bach's hat-trick. Kick off is 12 p.m. at Centennial Stadium.

Manitoba will play UBC on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. CST. The Thunderbirds dropped the Bison 4-1 in Winnipeg back on September 9.

Complete statistics...