VANCOUVER - The Saskatchewan Huskies took the second of two games against the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday night as goaltender Ryan Holfield collected the shutout in a 3-0 win. With the victory, the Huskies move to .500 on the season with a record of 6-6-0, good for a tie for third in the Canada West, thanks to goals from Josh Roach, Charlie Cox and Chad Suer.
 
In similar fashion to last week the Thunderbirds potted three goals in its first game of a weekend series but were shutout in the weekend finale. With the loss the Thunderbirds fall to 3-8-1 to sit in seventh in the Canada West and remain winless on the road, a span of six games.
 
Opening the scoring was Roach, who was the beneficiary of a Brennan Bosch feed into the slot set up by a Huskies odd-man rush, making no mistake burying his third of the year to give the Huskies the first-period lead. Kendall McFaul also added a helper on the opening score. 
 
The Thunderbirds had a chance to respond as the team went on the man-advantage but Holfield stood tall, stopping everything UBC put towards the net. Seven penalties were assessed in the first, four to UBC and three to Saskatchewan, in what was a rough opening frame.
 
Saskatchewan went to work 5-on-3 to start the second and Derek Hulak had thought he gave the Huskies a two-goal lead but after the referees convened, the puck was deemed not to have crossed the goal line, which sparked a reaction from the Huskies bench.
 
After a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties to both sides, Connor Cox converted on a power play chance shortly thereafter for his first career CIS goal. Andrew Bailey collected an assist on the play as did Bosch, the second helper of the night for the captain.
 
After a brilliant save by Steven Stanford to end the Huskies power play, Chad Suer skated through neutral ice and unloaded a slap shot from just inside the UBC blue line, fooling Stanford to give the Huskies a three-goal advantage at 15:20 of the second. Cox, the former Saskatoon Blade, collected the assist on the play to go along with his tally.
 
Stanford got the nod for UBC this evening after coming in for relief for Matt Hewitt in last night's matchup against the Huskies.
 
The Thunderbirds had an opportunity to initiate a comeback with a 5-on-3 man-advantage but the Huskies defense were efficient killing off both penalties as the game finished with a 3-0 score. Huskies goaltender Holfield went down briefly after taking a shot just under the chin but remained in the game. Holfield has played every minute of action for the Huskies this Canada West season.
 
Serving their one-game suspension's Saturday night were UBC's Matt Wray and Saskatchewan's Zak Stebner, after both being assessed fighting majors in last night's scrappy affair.
 
Wes Vannieuwenhuizen went to the locker room with four seconds left on the clock after dropping the mitts. Vannieuwenhuizen was assessed a cross-checking penalty as well as a roughing call instead of a fighting major.
 
Stanford finished the game with 31 saves after being bombarded with 34 shots. His Huskies counterpart, Holfield, finished with 27 saves on the night. UBC finished the night 0-for-6 on the power play while the Saskatchewan potted the goal on the man-advantage, finishing 1-for-8.
 
The Thunderbirds return home next weekend for a bout with the Manitoba Bisons, who sit two points ahead of UBC in the standings after taking two wins from the Lethbridge Pronghorns in its weekend series. Prior to this weekend's rebound, the Bisons' had dropped five straight.
 
With the Grey Cup next weekend, the Saskatchewan Huskies are forced to play a Wednesday-Thursday matchup against the Regina.