SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies fell to the University of Manitoba Bisons Saturday night 1-0 on what was a rainy affair at Griffiths Stadium.
 
The Huskies started the game strong yet both teams were unable to find the back of the net after 45 minutes.
 
The Huskies enjoyed a decent run of play coming out of the halftime break; however, the game was placed under a severe weather delay at the 57^th minute which lasted nearly 90 minutes.
 
Upon the restart, it was Manitoba's Bianca Cavalcanti who netted the games lone goal at the 62^nd minute mark. This was the Bisons first win of the season after their season opener was suspended last night in Regina due to severe weather.
 
Despite the loss, Huskies head coach Jerson Barandica-Hamilton saw the game as a learning opportunity for the young squad.
 
"Every game we play with this group is about lessons of growing and getting better," said Barandica-Hamilton. "Today, I thought there was different little pieces of adversity. I thought we dominated the first half just didn't capitalize. Then the weather, and then we went down a little bit. Then you see how much it means to them to even tie or beat us. That means that we've arrived as a program. So, I told the girls, every time we play a team, they're going to want to beat us because of who we are."
 
"So, we just have to have the maturity and the composure to stick to our DNA and keep playing. I thought today you could see that we were a little bit young, and we started to rush things and panic, because we wanted to tie the game so quickly and I told the girls to just to stay true to what we do and what we do is being composed and letting our play dictate."
 
"It was a great lesson for the girls. The first time we've had to deal with weather delay and learning how to change their mindset and get better. So, all in all, I mean, we wish we would've at least tied. I think we for sure deserved to tie, but again, at the end of the day, we want to be at nationals, and this is just one step to getting there."
 
First-year keeper Nadia Kalyar got her first U SPORTS career start in net for the Huskies.
 
Karina Bagi picked up the clean sheet for the Bisons.
 
With the loss, the Huskies fall to 1-1. The Huskies next match will be against the University of Regina Cougars in the inaugural U Prairie Challenge game on September 2 at Griffiths Stadium in Nutrien Park. Tickets are now available at huskietickets.com.