Once again the UBC Thunderbirds (3-0-1) let a lead slip away in the third period, and once again
Theran Yeo bailed them out with a game-winner, as his side downed the Manitoba Bisons (4-1-1) 5-3 on Saturday night to complete the weekend sweep at Thunderbird Arena.
After a red-hot start for the T-Birds saw them take an early 3-0 lead, the Bisons came on strong late in the game, eventually tying it at three as they did on Friday.
But unlike Friday's contest, this one needed no shootout to decide a winner, as Yeo came up clutch for the 'Birds yet again with a hard wrist-shot from just inside the blue line that fooled Steve Christie and gave UBC a 4-3 lead with less than a minute to play.
"I thought he played really well today,” said UBC coach Milan Dragicevic of the second-year defenceman. "He moved the puck and skated well, and he put the puck on the net. We tell are guys that when you put the puck on the net good things are going to happen, and he has come through for us two nights in a row.”
Yeo netted the shootout winner for the 'Birds in Friday's contest, making today's goal his second game-winner in as many nights.
Brandon Campos opened the scoring just over two minutes into the game, as he was able to redirect
Max Grassi's cross-crease pass past Christie to make it 1-0 UBC.
Justin McCrae tallied less than two minutes later on the powerplay, as he found himself all alone in front of the Manitoba net and made no mistake, sliding the puck through Christie's five-hole to double the T-Bird advantage. He made it 3-0 'Birds later in the period when he was once again left all alone in front of goal, this time taking the feed from
Tyler Ruel and one-timing it home.
The lead didn't last though, as Rick Wood scored on a Manitoba powerplay late in the first, and was also able to bang a rebound past
Francois Thuot in the second to make it a 3-2 game.
Mike Hellyer then finished off a brilliant tic-tac-toe play to even the game in the third. Kip Workman's pass from the point found Ian Duval at the side of the UBC net, and his first touch redirected the puck across the crease to Hellyer, who one-timed it past a helpless Thuot.
"I give Manitoba credit for coming back hard, and it was another learning experience for our guys,” said Dragicevic. "But we came up big when we needed to at the end.”
Brennan Sonne added an empty-net goal for the 'Birds.
Thuot had another strong outing between the pipes for UBC, saving 19 of 22 shots and coming up big on several good scoring opportunities for the Bisons. Christie saved 21 of the 25 shots he faced in the loss.
The Bisons retain their lead in the Canada West standings with nine points through six games. UBC moves into a tie for second with Alberta, but the 'Birds have two games in-hand over the Bisons.
"We expect to have a good hockey team so to be undefeated in regulation after four games isn't surprising to us,” said Dragicevic. "Nobody should be surprised with where we are at right now. The guys are playing with a lot of confidence.”
The T-Birds will be looking to take that confidence on the road with them next week, when they will be in Lethbridge for a two-game set with the Pronghorns. Manitoba returns home to host the Calgary Dinos.
