SASKATOON - The UBC Thunderbirds felt the sting of the stick of Canada West leading goal scorer Breanne George as she added three to her tally in a 7-1 loss to University of Saskatchewan Huskies Friday night at Saskatoon's Rutherford Rink.
Three of George's five points found the back of the net and she now sits on top of the Canada West scoring table with 39 points and has a league leading 24 goals. Linemates Kelsey Tulloch and Julie Paetsch also had multiple point nights each scoring a goal and three assists.
With the win the No. 7 ranked Huskies (16-5-3) continue to make a bid to catch the Manitoba Bisons for second place in the conference. The T-Birds (7-13-1) remain one point back of the Regina Cougars but their prairie rival have two games in hand.
Saskatchewan's power play was strong in the game scoring on three of eight power plays in the game while the 'Birds powerplay lack punch following up a three-goal performance last weekend by going 0-for-6 with the man advantage.
Veteran Huskie Shaye Christiansen opened the scoring for the Huskies on the power play at 6:53 in the first period. Tulloch added her goal just under six minutes later at 12:38 in the same frame. George opened the scoring in the second period on the power play at 12:31. Second-year Danny Stone gave the Huskies a 4-0 lead at 14:37. Paetsch scored at 16:25 and George added her second at 19:00 for the 6-0 lead to end the second period. Paetsch's goal chased UBC starting goalie
Melinda Choy from the net.
"It was one bad period of play after a good start," said UBC head coach Nancy Wilson. "The second period was the most brutal hockey we have played all year and that cost us the game."
George began the third period the same we she began the second this time scoring with the extra attacker at 9:14 before the T-Birds ended Saskatchewan netminder Vanessa Frederick's shutout bid when
Jocelyn Marren counted at 17:14 of the third period.
Frederick made 19 saves in the game for the Huskies while Choy made six saves before Jordan Schertzer took over the UBC net. Schertzer made 15 saves in her 23 minutes of ice time.
The two teams will meet again Saturday night at Rutherford. Puck drop is 7:00 p.m.
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