The UBC women’s hockey team defeated the Trinity Western University (TWU) Spartans 6–0 at the Doug Mitchell Sports Centre on Friday night for the Winter Classic festival. With the win, UBC remains first in the Canada West standings.
“We were a little slow to start,” said UBC head coach Graham Thomas. “Then we started skating, and once we skate, we can be dangerous.”
UBC forward Chanreet Bassi took initiative, scoring the first goal of the game on a powerplay in the seventh minute of play to stir up much-needed momentum.
From then on, UBC took control of the plays. They scored another two goals in the first period, just minutes apart, from forwards Cassidy Rhodes and Jacquelyn Fleming — who each had the primary assists on the others’ goal
Halfway through the second period, Bassi scored her second goal for a 4–0 lead. Just before the period buzzer rang, on a five-on-three, defender Rylind MacKinnon scored and increased the lead to 5–0. Consistently, UBC took far more shooting chances and didn’t hesitate to take control back when the Spartans got the puck. By the end of the second period, UBC had 29 shots on goal and TWU had 7.
![“I think [our depth] is our strength,” Graham said.](https://storage.googleapis.com/ubyssey/media/renditions/240119_w_winter_classic_i_you-7.original.jpg)
With one period left, the Spartans were running out of time and scoring chances. But the ‘Birds didn’t let up. There was lots of back-and-forth play, yet TWU couldn’t get more than three more shots on net. With only seconds left in the final period, Grace Elliott scored on the powerplay, bringing home the 6–0 victory.
The Thunderbirds showed strength across the board defensively and offensively while showing their great speed and accuracy. They played a very strong, consistent game, despite the slower start.
Thomas attributed it to the depth of the team.
“I think that's our strength,” he said.
With the momentum from the big win, the Thunderbirds look toward a home game against the University of Alberta Pandas on February 2.
