VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds closed out their three-day tournament with a razor thin 2-1 win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at Father Bauer Arena. After going 0-3 over the previous two days, the victory was exactly the way the 'Birds wanted to end the weekend.
"It's a building weekend for us," said UBC head coach Nancy Wilson. "It was an opportunity to see players in a lot of different positions. We put together some of the lines we wanted, and overall I saw some really good things that we can build on. We ended on a positive note."
The T-Birds opened the scoring when
Emily Grainger launched a shot from the point on a two-skater advantage.
Tatiana Rafter was there to pot the rebound and give the Blue and Gold an early lead on the power play.
UBC got on the board again when
Jocelyn Marren managed to get her stick on the puck during a goalmouth scramble, putting UBC up 2-0.
But after being outshot 9-1 through most of the first period, U of T started to apply pressure late in the first frame. In the second period the effort paid off with Brenley Jorgensen's wraparound goal, which trickled between UBC goalie
Melinda Choy's legs.
However, Choy was perfect after that. In spite of the mounting pressure by the Blues, the 'Birds managed to hang on even while being outshot by a final total of 24-18.
"Choy played well today," said Wilson. "As usual, she came up big. But that's what we expect from Melinda. This year is her fifth year and I'm hoping it's going to be her best year."
Wilson further reflected on her team's four exhibition games.
"The team is having fun building and the positives are that we've got some players on the team that can handle the puck and can shoot," commented Wilson. "Now we just have to get everybody familiar with the systems and with each other. This was our first opportunity to compete and there's some things we need to work on, but I saw a lot of positives."
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