Vancouver, BC - The UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey team will have their hands full this weekend as they welcome the defending CIS champions and number one ranked team in the country, the Calgary Dinos, to Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre for a pair of games.
UBC is coming off an impressive opening weekend in which they picked up three of a possible four points against the Regina Cougars. They defeated the Cougars 4-0 the first night and lost 3-2 in a shootout the following night.
Stellar goaltending has been a big reason for the early success. Former national team member
Danielle Dube (Vancouver, BC) and
Danielle Lemon (Madison, Wisonsin) both made quite an impression in their CIS debuts. Dube stopped all 30 shots she faced to earn the shutout last Friday night, while Lemon stopped 38 of 40 shots she faced in a shootout loss Saturday night.
Rebecca Unrau (Humboldt, SK) has led the charge offensively. She had three goals and one assist in the opening weekend, as the Thunderbirds outscored Regina 6-3.
Nicole Saxvik (North Vancouver, BC),
Cailey Hay (Oakbank, MB) and
Tatiana Rafter (Winnipeg, MB) scored the other goals for UBC.
The Dinos took care of the Lethbride Pronghorns in their opening weekend, defeating their provincial rivals 5-2 and 4-1. Calgary is led by three time Olympic gold medalist Hayley Wickenheiser. She didn't play last weekend due to injury, so her status this weekend versus UBC remains up in the air. Amanda Tapp, the reigning CIS Championship Tournament MVP, was solid in net, allowing just three goals in the two games.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm both Friday and Saturday night at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Friday is the women's Think Pink game, so all fans are encouraged to wear pink to support awarness for breast cancer.
