The Thunderbirds women’s hockey team emerged triumphant over the Mount Royal University Cougars this weekend, extending their winning streak to eight games with a 3–1 and 3–2 shootout victory to cap off a tense series on home ice.
The pair's previous match-up, swept by the Cougars, marked the only losses of the season for the otherwise undefeated and three-time Canada West Champion T-Birds.
Tensions started early on Friday night, bubbling into a first-period goal notched by Mount Royal’s Jerzey Watteyne in the12th minute. Karine Sandilands responded on behalf of the Thunderbirds in the second period, pressuring Cougar’s defence and nailing a shot into the slot.
UBC dominated the rest of the game, with excellent transition defence underpinning opportunities for Vanessa Schaefer and Grace Elliott to bring the tally to 3–1 for the T-Birds.
After the game, UBC head coach Graham Thomas said the biggest deciding factor for Saturday's game would be the team's intensity and energy levels.
“It's going to be a fight," he said. "We know that — we're both jostling for a position here.”
The ‘Birds heeded their coach’s words right from the gates in Saturday’s afternoon game. From puck drop, both teams skated full-lengths from each other's zones, exchanging possession-like contact and shoves. Mount Royal took to the scoreboard in the first, with Jori Hansen-Young sniping over a collapsing T-Birds defence.
The action grew more physical and tensions formed, resulting in four penalties for the Cougars. In a five-on-three for the ‘Birds, Ashton Thorpe evened the score going into second. Schaefer took the lead with UBC’s second goal — shooting, getting the rebound, pausing and then sinking the puck into the slot and erupting the stands.
Lyvia Butz fired back, balancing the scoreboard 2–2. The score remained unchanged through the rest of the second and a scoreless third, both teams exchanging power plays. The game moved to overtime, but neither squad found the back of the net.
“They were switching a lot and making us move and I thought we did a good job of trying to stay with them and stay in the shot lane,” Thomas said of the ‘Birds' penalty kill unit proving critical during the match.
Moving to a shootout, Mount Royal went scoreless thanks to goaltender Elise Hugens. For the Thunderbirds, it was Canada West women’s hockey player of the week Elliott who tapped it in and over, sending the stands to applause. “We Like to Party” started over the speakers as the elated Thunderbirds skated off the ice with a swept series.
“Obviously goaltending is a big part of the job — Elise was solid and we had good, strong clears,” Thomas said.
The Thunderbirds’ next series is with the University of Calgary Dinos this weekend in Calgary.
“Our focus right now is just going to be sticking to our team identity of being resilient and being tough,” said Thomas. “It's going to be a gritty win.”
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