Files from U of A Sports Information
EDMONTON - Although the no.3 ranked University of Alberta Pandas tied the score three times in the game, the UBC Thunderbirds scored a late goal to edge out the home team for a 4-3 win, Friday evening at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.
Senior
Lisa Bonang led the T-bird offence with a pair of goals, including the game-winner, while third-years
Chelsea Laing and
Kaitlin Imai each chipped in a goal and an assist.
Third-year Karla Bourke scored alongside seniors Leah Copeland and Lindsie Fairfield for the Pandas, with sophomore Katie Stewart notching a couple helpers as Alberta starts the season at an uncharacteristic 1-2.
"I was really really happy with the effort and the way we executed our systems but we also took way too many undisciplined penalties. We'll need to shore that up tomorrow," said UBC head coach Nancy Wilson. "Our players showed a lot of good character. This game went back and forth and we could have quit every time they tied it up but we always came back."
Bonang opened the scoring on a UBC penalty when she grabbed a loose puck and came in off the wing, fanning on a backhand that carried itself over the line for the short-handed tally at 6:06 of the first period.
Alberta tied up the game just as the same penalty expired when Bourke tipped a Sarah Grandinetti point shot for her first conference goal in Panda silks.
The home team overwhelmed the shot clock 10-2 in their favour after the opening 20 minutes, but senior
Melinda Choy held the opposition at bay to keep the score deadlocked at 1-1.
Laing, of Port Coquitlam, B.C., retook the lead for UBC in the second when she tipped a Kirsten Michalcheon point shot at the 9:11 mark of the middle frame. Alberta team captain Copeland tied things up again just over four minutes later when she got a stick on a Nicole Pratt slapper on the power-play.
It took Imai only 17 seconds into the third to reclaim the T-bird lead when she shot high to the far side from inside the face-off circle to beat sophomore 'keeper Michala Jeffries.
The see-saw battle continued with Calgary native Fairfield potting a loose rebound in front of the UBC goal with 9:27 left to go in the final frame.
Alberta almost took the lead two minutes later when senior Melody Howard, who scored the game-winner at last year's CIS gold medal game, was all alone in front with an entire net to shoot at before Choy robbed her blind with a scintillating glove save.
The Victoria, B.C. native's efforts opened the door for Bonang's heroics, taking advantage of an out-of-position Jeffries and potting a loose rebound in front of the Alberta goal with 93 seconds left to go in the game.
With Jeffries on the bench, Choy held off the attacking Pandas for the win, earning the T-Birds their second-straight victory against Alberta in conference play.
The final shots went 24-14 in favour of Alberta, who was 1-7 on the man advantage while UBC went 0-3.
The Pandas will have their rematch tomorrow against the 1-0 Thunderbirds at 7:00 PM MT at Clare Drake Arena.
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