Vancouver, BC -
It took 20 minutes to shake off the rust, but once they found their groove the UBC Thunderbirds were too much to handle for the SFU hockey club winning 6-2 Friday night in their season opening game at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
BOX SCORE
Friday marked UBC's first game of the season, while it was the sixth for SFU. It took awhile for the Thunderbirds to get their legs and feel comfortable, but once they did they quickly proved they plan on being a legitimate contender in the Canada West this season.
After trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes of play UBC exploded for six goals from five different players in the second period to lead 6-1. Luke Lockhart scored a pair and Dillon Wagner, Nick Buonassisi, Kevin Smith, and Anthony Bardaro each tallied singles in the frame. All six goals were scored in a span of 8:34, with Buonassisi's goal coming on the power play. The shots were 27-12 after the period.
Graeme Gordon was pulled after giving up five goals on 19 shots. He was replaced by Andrew Parent who gave up a goal on the first shot he faced.
There was just one goal in the third period coming off the stick of Aaron Enns who beat Stanford on a nice individual effort. 6-2 was the final score. Final shots were 34-19 in favour of the Thunderbirds.
SFU opened up the scoring as Nick Sandor beat Steven Stanford on the first shot of the game 4:32 into the opening period. UBC was unable to beat SFU goalie Graeme Gordon in the first 20 minutes, however they did outshot their opponents 12-7.
Stanford got the win in net finishing with 17 saves on the night, his best denying Trevor Milner on a breakaway in the second period.
Lockhart finished the night with two goals and an assist, while Wagner, Buonassisi, Smith, and Cole Wilson each had two points.
UBC went 1-for-5 on the power play, while SFU was 0-for-6
The Thunderbirds and SFU will wrap up their home and home exhibition series tomorrow night at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre in Burnaby at 7 p.m.
