Vancouver, BC - The UBC Thunderbirds earned the weekend sweep of the Lethbridge Pronghorns winning 3-2 Saturday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. With the victory, UBC improves to 4-1-1 on the season. The Thunderbirds outscored the Pronghorns 8-3 in the two game series.
"It wasn't our prettiest win, but it was great that we were able to hold on to the lead in the third period," said the night's first star
Wyatt Hamilton. "They are not all going to be 5-1 games, but we achieved our goal, picked up the full four points on the weekend, so we can't complain."
For the complete box score,
click here.
Looking for a quick start, the 'Birds came out flying early testing Pronghorns goaltender Damien Ketlo with four shots in the first two shifts.
Dillon Wagner (Keephills, AB) would get UBC on the board; fresh off seving a two minute minor he jumped out of the box and started a 3-on-2 which ended with Wagner tipping home
Justin McCrae's (Cochrane, AB) shot to give the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead. For Wagner it was his first career Canada West goal. UBC added to their lead 1:14 later as
Wyatt Hamilton (Cochrane, AB) banged in his own rebound for his second goal of the season, giving the Thunderbirds a 2-0 advantage.
Jordan White (Surrey, BC) got the start for a second straight night and only faced four shots in the opening frame. Unfortunately a bad bounce got by him as Hayden Rintoul's point shot went off a UBC player in front and past White to cut the lead to 2-1 through 20 minutes of play.
UBC didn't waste anytime adding to their lead in the second period. McCrae scored his third goal of the weekend series to make it a two goal lead for the 'Birds. The Pronghorns couldn't generate any offense so they tried to set the physical tone, but UBC wisely avoided any altercations staying out of the penalty box.
Ben Schmidt (Campbell River, BC) had a chance late on the power play, but rang it off the post just as the horn sounded. Lethbridge managed just five shots on White in the period.
Damien Ketlo kept the Pronghorns make a number of key saves in the early part of the third period as the Thunderbirds were unable to capitalize on a pair of power plays. Just as Tyler Hlookoff's penalty expired he hopped out of the box and took a perfect stretch pass from Chase Schaber and mae no mistake on the breakaway, beating White low to the stick side to get the visitors within one goal. Lethbridge had chances late, outshooting UBC 13-11 in the frame, but White shut the door to preserve the victory. The Thunderbirds now sit alone in second place in the Canada West with nine points
Wyatt Hamilton finished the night with a goal and an assist. The fourth year forward is playing on a line with
Nate Fleming (St. Albert, AB) and
Justin McCrae. They are supposed to be the top shutdown line, but they are chipping in offensively as well.
"The best defence is offense and if we have the puck and are playing in their end, they can't score," said Hamilton. "Our identity is just outworking them. Nate and Justin are both fast and it's been going well so far, so hopefully we can keep it rolling."
White made 20 saves for his third victory of the year as UBC is off to outstanding start to the season.
"On and off the ice we are a very tight knit group," said Hamilton. "We are on the same page early with everybody buying into the system. With our new recruits and much improved depth, we can roll four lines and hammer teams down low with our cycle which so far has been working"
Damien Ketlo stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced in the Lethbridge net.
Next weekend the Thunderbirds will play host to the top team in the Canada West as the Saskatchewan Huskies (5-1-0) come calling. Games will be Friday October 26 and Saturday October 27 at 7:00 pm. Note both game swill be played at Father David Bauer Arena.
"They will be waiting there at nationals and that is where we want to be, so this will be a good test for us," said Hamilton. "It will definitely be a huge weekend in terms of how we stack up with the country's best."
Scoring Summary
1st Period
UBC Goal
Dillon Wagner (1) (
Justin McCrae) (1) 8:43
UBC Goal
Wyatt Hamilton (2) (
Max Grassi,
Neil Manning) 9:57
Leth Goal Hayden Rintoul (1) (Cason Machacek) 13:42
2nd Period
UBC Goal
Justin McCrae (3) (
Nate Fleming,
Wyatt Hamilton) :28
3rd Period
Leth Goal Tyler Hlookoff (Chase Schaber) 7:32
Shots
Leth 22 UBC 35
Power Play
Leth 0-3
UBC 0-4
