VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds handed the Alberta Pandas their first loss of the season on Saturday night, riding strong defence and outstanding goaltending by
Melinda Choy to a 2-0 win at the Father Bauer Arena. It was UBC's first ever win at home against Alberta.
The Pandas out shot the T-Birds 11-5 in the first period but UBC had all the momentum heading into the second, thanks to
Kelsey Kirkham's tally with 11 seconds left in the frame. Fittingly enough it was fifth-year forward
Jenny Mahovlich who set up the game-winner on seniors night for UBC, as she fed Kirkham in the low slot from behind the net, and Pandas goalie Dana Vinge got a piece but couldn't keep it out.
The Pandas continued to heavily out shoot the 'Birds throughout the contest, winding up with 39 shots on the night, but they couldn't get many quality scoring chances against a disciplined UBC defence.
Any Pandas who did leak through the defence were quickly turned away by Choy, who looked unbeatable for UBC on Saturday. She made several key stops on the penalty kill and in the third period to prevent an Alberta comeback.
"Our defensive systems were great and obviously Melinda was outstanding but the key was we didn't panic," said UBC head coach Nancy Wilson. "Alberta has a lot of speed and puck skill, but even though we got outshot we kept most of their play to the outside and let Melinda see the shots, and when she sees them she stops them."
At 8:30 of the third period on an Alberta powerplay, Choy made a sprawling glove save to deny a Panda forward on the doorstep, and then got back in position fast enough to make another save off the rebound.
She also made three saves during another Alberta powerplay in the final minutes of the third, and her sister
Alisha Choy set up the empty-net insurance marker just a few seconds later. She threw the puck towards the net from the neutral zone and
Tamara Pickford was able to redirect it into the empty cage.
"Everybody worked so hard and there were lots of great individual efforts," said Wilson. "Nobody took a shift off."
The T-Birds improve to 6-9-1 on the year, and gained some ground on a playoff spot thanks to a Regina loss. UBC is now just two points back of Regina for the fourth and final playoff spot. Meanwhile Alberta falls to 17-1-0, but the Pandas still have a healthy 10-point lead in the conference standings.
Next week the T-Birds will travel to Lethbridge for a pair of games against the Pronghorns, while Alberta returns home to host the Saskatchewan Huskies.
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