Vancouver, BC - The UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team spotted the number two ranked team in the nation a three goal lead and it was too much to overcome, as the Alberta Golden Bears defeated UBC 5-2 Saturday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Saturday marked the final game of the regular season for UBC who finished the 2012-13 season 14-11-3 and in fifth place in the Canada West conference.
It didn't take long for the visitors to get on the board. Just 1:03 into the first period Johnny Lazo beat
Jordan White (Surrey, BC) to give the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead. They would go ahead 2-0 late in the period as Ben Lindemulder scored his fourth goal of the season on the power play to give Alberta a two goal advantage through 20 minutes. Like Friday night, the Thunderbirds were unable to generate any offensive opportunities as the Golden Bears did a great job of controlling the puck and keeping UBC to the outside.
Alberta extended their lead to 3-0 5:17 into the second period courtesy of Colin Joe. The blueliner beat White for his second goal of the year. The 'Birds looked as if they were ready to call it a night, when they got a power play in the final minute of the second period.
Cole Wilson (White Rock, BC) hammerd home his league best 16th goal of the year with just three seconds left in the frame to the cut the lead to 3-1 through 40 minutes.
The late goal gave life to UBC heading into the third period as they came out with a ton of jump in the third period and eventually they would be rewarded. With another Alberta player in the penalty box,
Ben Schmidt (Campbell River, BC) scored his first goal of the season on the power play to get the Thunderbirds within one, 3-2. After that, the Thunderbirds got themselves in serious penalty trouble taking three straight minors, at one point giving the Golden Bears a 1:38 5-on-3. However, UBC was able to kill them all off. They would have one more chance on their own man advantage, but were unable to convert. Alberta would add an empty netter from Travis Toomey and then Jordan Hickmott scored 10 seconds later to make it a 5-2 final.
With the victory, the Golden Bears finish the year with a record of 23-4-1, good for top spot in the conference and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
Final shots were 37-27 for the Golden Bears. UBC went 2-for-6 on the power play, while Alberta finished 1-for-6.
Statistically this is the best season ever under head coach Milan Dragicevic as UBC finished with 14 wins and 31 points.
The Thunderbirds will now get set to take on the Calgary Dinos in the first round of the playoffs beginning next Friday in Calgary. It is a best of three series with the winner moving on to the second round. This is a rematch of last year's first round series, which the Dinos won in three games.
The other first round match up will have the Manitoba Bisons playing host to the Regina Cougars, while Alberta and Saskatchewan get a first round bye.
