Over the weekend, UBC men’s hockey headed to Winnipeg to face off against the University of Manitoba Bisons. The T-Birds had immense offensive prowess, scoring 14 goals in the weekend series, and improving to 3–0–1 on the season.
On Friday night, UBC jumped out to a 3–0 lead in the first period, with two goals from first-year defenceman Jake Lee, and one from second-year centre Carson Miller. Manitoba got one back in the second, before goals from Devon Skoleski and Brett Davis tied the game at 3–3 with under 10 minutes to play.
Despite outplaying and outshooting their opponents for most of the game, UBC stared down another overtime. But with just over five minutes, first-year T-Birds forward Josh Williams scored the game-winning goal and the first of his Canada West career, and UBC went on to win 6–4. Kaeden Lane stopped 11 of 15 shots for the win, while Ross Hawryluk stopped 29 of 34 in the Manitoba net.
The following afternoon the two teams wasted no time returning to their offensive ways. The first period saw seven goals scored in quick fashion with two tallies from Cyle McNabb for a 4–3 UBC lead. McNabb, a Winnipeg native, completed the hat-trick early in the second frame, chasing Bisons’ netminder Brett Murphy. Moments later, UBC jumped to a 6–3 lead with a goal from Scott Atkinson.
Later in the period, the Bisons had the ice tilt their way, and they took full advantage. Three quick goals saw the T-Birds lead vanish, and head into the final frame tied 6–6. After a back-and-forth period, UBC Captain Chris Douglas scored the game-winner, securing an 8–7 victory for his T-Birds. Cole Schwebius stopped 24 shots en route to his first Canada West victory.
Next week, the T-Birds return home to host the visiting University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The team will look to keep the offence rolling, and tighten up their defensive structure.