Vancouver, BC -
Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) earned his first shutout of the season and
Brad Hoban (Victoria, BC) was in on all three goals as the UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey defeated the Regina Cougars 3-0 Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. With the win the Thunderbirds improve to 9-5-1 on the season, while the Cougars fall to 6-7-2.
BOX SCORE
Making his first start since November 9 against Mount Royal, Stanford wasn't tested often, but made the necessary saves when called upon, stopping all 23 shots fired his way.
"I thought Stanford was sharp for us, especially in the first period, giving us an opportunity to get on track," said head Milan Dragicevic. "We were able to control the game with our puck possession and the power play looked good, despite only getting one goal. As well, our penalty kill continues to improve each game, which is a great sign moving forward."
UBC opened the scoring 2:44 into the first period as
Michael Wilgosh (Selkirk, MB) was sent in all alone on a great feed from
Brad Hoban (Victoria, BC) and made no mistake for his first goal of the season. The Thunderbirds looked to add to their lead shorthanded, but
Scott MacDonald (Surrey, BC) was denied on a 2-on-1 with
Scott Wasden (West Kelowna, BC) by Regina netminder Lucas Gore. Hoban then looked to have a sure fire goal with Gore down and out, but Cougars defenceman Jordan Reeve dove in front of Hoban's shot to keep the game 1-0. The Thunderbirds would get one more before the period was out on the power play as
Max Grassi (North Vancouver, BC) drove hard to the net, dishing it off to
Cole Wilson (White Rock, BC) who potted his eighth goal of the season with just 2.2 seconds left in the period to give UBC a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The Thunderbirds came out flying in the second period get chance after chance, but Lucas Gore would continue to keep the puck out of his net and his Cougars in the game. He stopped a great tip from
Nate Fleming (St. Albert, AB) and then Wilgosh and MacDonald on breakaways to keep it a two goal game through 40 minutes of play.
In the third period,
Brad Hoban finally found the back of the net scoring his sixth goal of he season and picking up his third point of the night. After that, the Thunderbirds went into defensive mode, eliminating any chance for Regina as UBC outshot the Cougars 11-2 in the final frame. The Thunderbirds picked up their ninth win of the season with the 3-0 victory.
"i was happy with Hoban, Grassi, and Wilgosh and the way they played," said Dragicevic. "There is a lot of pressure for them to produce and they got two big goals tonight."
The final shots were 26-23 for UBC. Stanford and Gore both made 23 saves on the night. UBC went 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Cougars were 0-for-5.
These two teams will meet again tomorrow night for the fourth and final time this season. Puck drop is 7:00 pm at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. UBC is 2-0-1 against the Cougars this season.
