The Manitoba Bisons took the first leg of the Duckworth Challenge with a 6-0 women's soccer victory Saturday afternoon.

Bianca Cavalcanti scored three goals and the Bisons topped the Winnipeg Wesmen in a Canada West contest at the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex. 

The win gives U of M an early edge in the annual crosstown series that will incorporate basketball and volleyball later in the season. 

Cavalcanti scored in the 10th, 22nd and 73rd minutes for the Bisons, who improved to 5-6-1.

Winnipeg fell to 1-10-1 heading into the final weekend of the season, which will feature road games at Mount Royal and Lethbridge.

"I think we created chances and were unlucky not to have scored," Wesmen head coach Amy Anderson said. "This has been something we have really improved on. Credit to U of M, they capitalized a lot on their chances. With my previous experience, I should have known better and dropped our line to not allow so much space between our defenders and goalie.  That's on me and I take responsibility.  The players played with good effort. This game does not define our season. We have made progress, and I'm proud of this team."