UBC women’s hockey swept their weekend series against the Trinity Western University Spartans, winning 1–0 on Friday in Langley and 4–1 on Saturday at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
On Friday, the Thunderbirds got off to a rocky start with the first and second periods going scoreless. UBC outshot TWU 25–14 but struggled to get past the Spartan’s goalie, Kate Fawcett.
Rookie Vanessa Schaefer finally got UBC on the board in the fifth minute. Makenzie McCallum skated up and passed to Schaefer who swooped in for a quick shot off a three-on-two opportunity to score for her first goal as a Thunderbird.
With sharp defense and good goaltending by Elise Hugens, UBC held on to their lead against the Spartans’ final attacks earning them the 1–0 win.
On Saturday, there was a lot of back and forth between teams. UBC had lots of shots but wasn’t able to break through until Grace Elliott got their first goal off a powerplay in the 15th minute. With this play, Elliott now co-leads the T-Birds offensively with six points in six games.
UBC kept the momentum going in the second period, scoring twice more. Madisyn Wiebe got a pass off to Mackenzie Kordic for a sharp goal. Then Schaefer got her second goal of the weekend after Sierra LaPlante’s shot bounced off the TWU goalie right to her.
It was almost another shutout game for the ‘Birds as UBC’s defence played strong and goaltender Mya Lucifora performed well in her first start for the T-Birds. However, on a power play, TWU’s Jordyn Matthews scored, earning the Spartans’ first goal of the regular season.
Nearing the end of the third period, UBC scored again with McCallum’s first goal of the season. A great pass by Chanreet Bassi into the slot set McCallum up to tip the puck into the top left corner. This shut down any chance for a Spartan’s comeback and guaranteed the 4–1 Thunderbird win.
The T-Birds broke their two game losing streak and are now fourth in the conference with a 4–2 record. They won’t stop here as head coach Graham Thomas knows this talented and capable team can keep getting better.
“We’re going through this little storming phase,” he said. “We just got to really work on our habits and our details and redefine … the standard that we’re going to set and hold ourselves accountable to.”
Next, the Thunderbirds will face the University of Alberta Pandas this weekend in Edmonton.
“Alberta is going to be a huge test on the road,” said Thomas. “Intensity is going to be higher, the level, the pace, it’s going to be really high, and so we’ve got to make sure we are ready for that.”
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