Vancouver, BC - The UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey team made history this week, ranking 5
th nationally in the CIS Top 10 rankings – the program's highest ever. The achievement comes after yet another successful weekend for the 'Birds in which they swept the Calgary Dinos to improve to 14-3-1 on the season. UBC has won 12 of its last 13 games.
The next challenger for UBC will be the Regina Cougars this weekend, as they pay a visit to the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre for a pair of games Friday and Saturday night (7:00 pm game time). These two teams met earlier in the season, splitting the two contests.
Sitting in fifth place in the Canada West the Cougars are 10-6-2 on the season and come into the weekend having managed just two wins in their previous seven games. However, they are just seven points back of the first place Thunderbirds with 10 games remaining in the regular season schedule.
Though their current national ranking is a groundbreaking milestone for the program, head coach
Graham Thomas kept any premature celebration in check.
"It's all about the process – not about the rankings."
After all, he noted, one loss on a bad day could very well toss it all up.
UBC sits in first place in the conference just four points clear of Alberta and Saskatchewan, which is by no means grounds for contentment. In commenting, assistant captain
Sarah Casorso stressed this point keenly.
"Now more than ever, each of us needs to work on not being complacent with our success and work ethic up to this point. It's important to keep up the intensity in practice and to continue buying into our team's philosophy."
"I think we are approaching a point in the season where we need to take advantage of the fact that we are a strong team comprised of players who each have unique, yet equally important roles on the team," said Casorso. "Each player is crucially valuable to our success."
Tatiana Rafter, the reigning CIS and Canada West Athlete of the week, continues to lead the conference in points (24) and goals (12). However, despite all the personal success the fourth-year players knows it will take a team effort to defeat a tough Cougars team this weekend.
"This weekend is key point wise," said Rafter. "It is a tight race and all the girls are aware of that. I think just focusing on the little things this week and applying what we have practiced into the game will be a big part of seeing success this weekend."
This past weekend the team also welcomed back
Kelsey Halvorson, who rejoins the 'Birds to finish off her final year of CIS eligibility and will provide blueline depth to the roster.
Puck drop is 7:00pm, both Friday and Saturday night, at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
