VANCOUVER - It wasn't quite the start to 2011 that the UBC Thunderbirds were hoping for, as they were shutout on home ice in a 3-0 loss to the Alberta Pandas at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. The 'Birds struggled to put together offence and were outshot 41-8.
“We looked a little tired and played with a little fear on our back end, which let them into our zone too easily,” explained UBC head coach, Nancy Wilson. “We've got some skilled players up front, but there wasn't any close support. The player with the puck seemed to be all by herself. The one-on-one battles, we have to win more of them. We match up in terms of size, but they outskated us tonight.”
The Pandas got their first two goals in the first period. Katie Stewart opened the scoring before Karla Bourke expanded the visitors' lead to two. Bourke was left all alone in the slot and when the puck squirted free, she made no mistake, putting the Pandas up 2-0.
Alana Cabana scored the third Pandas' goal from the doorstep as well. UBC goaltender
Melinda Choy made the first stop, but her team's defence wasn't able to contain the Alberta forward, and Cabana drained a backhander.
For her part, Choy withstood the pressure well, and was easily the T-Birds' best player.
Kelsey Kirkham had a chance to get her team on the board when she was sprung for a breakaway as she exited the penalty box halfway through the game. She made a move to her backhand, but Pandas' goalie Michala Jeffries closed the door, denying the T-Birds a chance to close the gap.
The Thunderbirds will try to get back to early season form when they meet the Pandas again on Saturday.
“The first two games we played against them at the beginning of the year were a lot different than tonight and I think a lot of that had to do with puck pressure,” Wilson said. “We generate a lot of offence when we're pressuring the puck, and we didn't do that as smartly as we did in the past. When we did generate turnovers, we didn't support the puck.”
Sitting last in Canada West, the T-Birds are badly in need of wins as the playoffs approach. They'll have a chance at redemption Saturday with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m.
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