VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds closed out two nights of hockey with a 5-2 defeat of the SAIT Trojans at Father Bauer Arena on Saturday. Five different skaters potted goals for the 'Birds in the second of back-to-back wins over the reigning ACAC champion Trojans, giving head coach Milan Dragicevic a look at the 2010-11 edition of his club.
“It was a good start,” said Dragicevic. “It's baby steps at this point, but I thought for both games we implemented a game plan. We kept the team to under 40 shots over two games, we scored four powerplay goals, our penalty killing was good. There were a lot of positives.”
T-Birds forward
Wyatt Hamilton opened the scoring for UBC, putting himself in perfect position in the slot to receive
Scott Wasden's pass from the corner and pulling the trigger to tie the game early.
Wasden himself would score the next goal on a perfectly executed two-on-one with
Brennan Sonne that left SAIT goalie Scott Orth down and out. Wasden fed the puck ahead to Sonne, who sent it right back to Wasden for the finish at the side of the net.
Despite the good start, Dragicevic was able to detect areas in need of improvement.
“Timing, moving the puck quicker, coming out together as a unit, getting shots through, and having proper sticks were they should be – those are the things to work on this week,” said Dragicevic.
One of the brightest spots for the Blue and Gold was new recruit, former Vancouver Giant d-man
Nolan Toigo. Toigo scored the game-winner on a crisp shot from the point on the power play and looked solid through 60 minutes.
“Toigo is playing at a high right now after exhibition games with the Edmonton Oilers,” said Dragicevic. “He's got pretty good skill, he's patient with the puck, and he gets his shot through, which we need from the point. To us, he's a big acquisition.”
Tyler Ruel and
Justin McCrae had the other UBC goals.
Next, the 'Birds hit the road for a handful of exhibition games before beginning the season at home to Alberta on October 15 and 16.
“We're playing three teams in the top 20 in the NCAA [next week], but we're not thinking about who we're playing,” said Dragicevic. “We're thinking about ourselves so that we're prepared to play Alberta in two weeks. Everyone's got a role to play on the ice and we're making sure everyone understands what our expectations are. That's what the exhibitions are for.”
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