The University of British Columbia Athletics

Vancouver, BC - Right from puck drop, both the UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey team and the U18 Team BC were off to the races in a game that would prove challenging for both sides. Although UBC's energy looked promising from the beginning, ultimately the U18's grit, finesse, and momentum earned them the 4-2 victory at the end of regulation.
 
In an interview after his team's loss, UBC head coach Graham Thomas – who also simultaneously holds an assistant coach position for the younger BC team along with goaltending coach Pasco Valana – described the game as a strange experience due to his strong investment in both teams. Ultimately Thomas felt that his U18s outplayed his older Thunderbirds, having used the momentum of their first goal to make further advances on UBC.
 
Thomas said that it was a learning experience to play at such a competitive level against BC's upcoming stars, but stressed that his Thunderbirds had to learn not to hit the panic button when trailing, and to play hard for the full sixty minutes under their style of play.
 
However, the head coach did emphasize that he saw "a lot of positives out there," which they will be working on moving forward into the regular season.
 
After nearly 10 minutes of even play, the latter half of the first period saw UBC attaining the upper hand offensively as they finally managed to settle down the puck and set up some close scoring chances.
 
This offensive surge by UBC was partially brought on by a number penalties doled out to Team BC, and it was evident that the age gap would not stop the U18s from roughing up their senior opponents. After twenty minutes the younger team had already accumulated four penalties while UBC had half that number.
 
Following a scoreless first period, UBC returned from first intermission by opening the scoring with a goal by Kathleen Cahoon, who tipped in a pass from Krista Wilson just over mintues into the frame.
 
Only a minute later UBC's Nicola Brown-John was given a penalty for checking to the head. The U18s got goals from Danielle Hardy and Micah Hart off nearly identical plays that saw the puck passed from behind the net right onto UBC's doorstep to give the opposition a 2-1 advantage.
 
As UBC suddenly found themselves trailing behind the younger U18s, the 'Birds slipped into a frantic scramble to try to equalize the score. A fast transition play by Thunderbird Stephanie Payne nearly turned into a breakaway, but the puck narrowly escaped her reach and slid up the ice.
 
Team BC sealed up the second period with their third goal that came from Chelsea Wilson off another pass from down low.
 
The third period began with a panicky offensive push by UBC that proved unsuccessful as a number of forced passes hampered the effort.
 
An unlucky play for UBC culminated in a fourth goal for the U18s when a precision shot by Micah Hart from the blue line whizzed past UBC's defenders and through the five-hole of netminder Danielle Lemon.
 
Nicole Saxvik would score a late power play goal, banging in a rebound off a Christi Capozzi point shot, but that is as close as the Thunderbirds would come falling 4-2.

On Thursday the Thunderbirds will be travelling to Minnesota for four games in four days against the University of Minnesota, St. Cloud State, the Japanese National Team, and Minnesota State beginning Friday September 27.