VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds earned their first weekend sweep of the season with a gutsy 4-3 comeback win over the no. 5 Manitoba Bisons in overtime. Defenceman
Craig Lineker played the hero, firing a wrist shot from inside the left face-off circle that beat Bison goalie Steve Christie with 26.3 seconds left in the extra period.
The 'Birds looked to be fighting the puck through most of the game, and found themselves down 3-1 in the third period, only to score three unanswered goals. UBC head coach Milan Dragicevic spoke about winning in spite of his team's struggles.
“We got two points, but we didn't play overly great,” said Dragicevic. “We couldn't handle the puck and I give Manitoba credit, they did a really good job of bogging down the neutral zone and eliminating odd-man rushes. There are still parts of the game we need to work at, and by no means are we content with any of this. [For the weekend] we got four points from the number five team in Canada and now we've got a well-deserved break.”
The Bisons applied pressure immediately looking to make up for Friday's shootout loss. On a delayed UBC penalty, Mike Hellyer put Manitoba up 1-0, shooting a cross-ice feed from Kyle Howarth far side to beat UBC goalie
Jordan White.
The T-Birds tied it up when
Max Grassi tipped a puck past Steve Christie halfway through the second. Lineker launched a shot from the top of the face-off circle, and Grassi got his stick out, directing the puck over the Bison goalie's shoulder.
Mantioba forward Tyler Dittmer would score late in the second, and Jesse Schappert added another goal, roofing the puck as a UBC penalty expired to give the visitors a 3-1 lead in the third period.
Bison goalie Steve Christie came into the game with the best goals against average in Canada West, but ironically, it was his miscue that allowed UBC to gain momentum late in the game. He tried to clear the zone by handling the puck, but sent it straight to UBC defenceman
Mike McGurk. McGurk fired the puck into the net, getting the T-Birds within one goal with four-and-a-half minutes left in regulation.
“We got a break when McGurk scored,” explained Dragicevic, “and we rode the emotion with four minutes left to go. No one quit, no one panicked.”
After struggling most of the game, UBC came alive in the final minutes, applying incredible pressure on the Manitoba goal. With chaos in front of the net, and three or four rebounds in close, somehow
Bryce Lamb got his stick through the huge crowd in the crease and banged the puck inches over the goal line to tie the game with less than two minutes left.
“We're a greasy hockey team. We've made no bones about it,” said Dragicevic. “We don't score pretty goals.”
That got UBC to overtime for the second night in a row. And once again, the T-Birds came through once regulation time expired.
Next up, the Thunderbirds play a non-conference game against the NCAA Division I Iowa State Cyclones. Puck drop is 7:00 p.m. November 26 at Doug Mitchell Arena.
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