VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds started slowly against the Portage College Voyageurs, but soon picked up the pace and dominated the visitors in a 8-2 win at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre on Wednesday.
Despite looking like the bigger, faster team from the opening face off, the 'Birds found themselves down by a goal in the first period when Shawn Shackleton opened the scoring from in close and put the Voyageurs up by one.
It wasn't long after that goal that the Blue and Gold took over.
Craig Lineker got the T-Birds even when he skated in from the blue line and unleashed a wrist shot from just above the face-off circle. The shot rocketed of the Voyageur goalie's shoulder and into the top corner to make it 1-1.
Seconds later, the Thunderbirds took the lead on a
Matthew Schneider goal. Schneider skated in on the net and drained the puck, finally giving the game's more dominant team the lead.
The Voyageurs tied it up when Cody Mapes found himself alone at the side of the net but the visitors' hopes of keeping up didn't last long.
Max Grassi regained the lead for UBC when he followed
Ben Schmidt to the net and picked up his linemate's rebound, making it 3-2. From there, the Thunderbirds never looked back.
Extending the UBC lead,
Jordan Inglis fired a beautiful wrist shot top shelf to notch a shorthanded marker near the end of the second period. Inglis would also score the 'Birds eighth goal of the night.
Next, it was
Dalton Pajak's turn to light the lamp. Pajak put the T-Birds up 5-2 with a goal in the first minute of the third period, and kept the UBC momentum rolling.
Adam Maglio added a sixth in the back half of the final period, while Marc DesLoges continued the deluge with a goal of his own.
The two teams are back at it Thursday, with puck drop is 7:00 p.m.
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