VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds came out and let their superior skating go to work in a 5-0 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Saturday night.
Tamara Pickford had a pair of goals, while
Amanda Asay and
Tatiana Rafter each had their third goals in two games.
But it was veteran
Melinda Choy, playing her 106th game as a T-Bird, who notched the most impressive stat by posting her first shutout of the 2010-11 season.
Choy,
Kirsten Mihalcheon, and
Lisa Bonang were all honoured in a pre-game ceremony for having played 100 CIS games or more as a member of the Thunderbirds. Choy put the icing on her cake by making 17 stops to earn the goose egg.
It was a dominant performance for the Blue and Gold, who outshot the visitors 40-17, and looked like they were enjoying themselves en route to the win.
“You're always having fun when you're finding time to move the puck,” said UBC head coach Nancy Wilson. “There was great support, the D were joining the rush, our forwards were coming back. It was a nice game for us. The players are having fun, they're working hard, and they're getting the results.”
There were plenty of strong performances on the ice for UBC, but another standout was Pickford. She picked up two goals on the night, both set up by
Kaylee Chanakos who did a nice job of finding #72 at the front of the net each time.
“I don't think anyone had a bad game tonight. But [especially notable is] Pickford with two goals and it's her birthday on Monday, so it's an early birthday present for her,” said Wilson, who went on to describe how much the senior player means to her hockey club. “Pickford is an older player in the dressing room and she comes prepared. She works hard on and off the ice. She's excited to be playing hockey at this level at this age.”
Both Asay and Rafter built on their two-goal outings from Friday by notching a tally apiece. Asay made a strong move to the front of the net on the power play to put her team up 3-0 in the second period. As for Rafter, hers was a highlight reel goal, as she tucked away a pretty breakaway goal with a backhander after a sweet feed from
Jocelyn Marren.
Team scoring leader
Kaitlin Imai also showed up on the score sheet with a cheeky goal scored from behind the net.
It was one of UBC's strongest games on home ice, and skating seemed to be the huge difference.
“One of the things we've talked about is not watching the player with the puck, but skating to support the player with the puck,” said Wilson. “Having five players move to offence and quickly transitioning with the puck. Also, our team has turned a corner in the sense that everyone comes ready to play.”
Wilson's squad will come ready to play once again when the Thunderbirds hit the road to face Saskatchewan next weekend.
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