The University of British Columbia Athletics

Saskatoon, SK - On Friday night in Saskatoon the Thunderbirds wrapped regular season play on a sour note, falling 4-3 to the Saskatchewan Huskies in a crucial battle for points to determine the top spots in the conference. With the loss UBC finishes third in the Canada West – tied with the Huskies at 42 points on the season. Alberta finished first overall with 43 points.
 
It came down to a third tiebreaker to determine second-place, which fell in Saskatchewan's favour to earn them a bye through to the semifinals. UBC finishes third and will host the Calgary Dinos next Friday, Saturday, and (if necessary) Sunday in the Canada West quarter-finals at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

Elsewhere in the league, Manitoba clinched fourth and will host Regina in the other quarter-final next weekend. Following a weekend sweep of Regina, the Alberta Pandas claimed top spot and a bye through to semi-finals. Regardless of the standings the T-Birds post an historic 20-6-2 record for the regular season.
 
Despite holding a 3-2 lead into the final frame the 'Birds couldn't hold off Cami Wooster – the second leading scorer in the conference – who evened up the score and provided the assist to teammate Marley Ervine who got the go-ahead goal. That would put the Huskies up 4-3 with 8:54 remaining in the game. UBC could not muster up an equalizer against the tireless home team before time expired. Wooster finished the night with two goals and an assist
 
Saskatchewan outshot UBC 22-20 over three periods, but Thunderbirds netminder Danielle Dube was sharp, making numerous key saves at crucial moments. She stopped 18 of 22 shots on the night, while Saskatchewan netminderCassidy Hendricks stopped 17 of 20 shots she faced.
 
The home team had a strong night on powerplay, scoring on 3-of-6 man-advantages; UBC had no luck on five opportunities.
 
The Thunderbirds took the lead early in the opening frame after Nicole Saxvik set up Cailey Hay who wired UBC's first shot of the game past Hendricks.
 
The game took flight after the midway point of the first period as the two teams exchanged a total of four goals. Second in conference scoring, Cami Wooster made it 1-1 on a powerplay, but the top scorer in the league, Tatiana Rafter, kept the tie brief by burying the response for the 'Birds. Just over a minute later Rebecca Unrau snuck UBC's third goal past Hendricks, only to be answered 27 seconds later by Saskatchewan's Sara Greschner who beat Dube on the power play. After 20 minutes of rapid back-and-forth action the 'Birds led 3-2 and outshot Saskatchewan 9-8.
 
Though the T-Birds kept the Huskies contained to one end for a fair portion of the second period they were unable to find the net over three man-advantages. Shots were 9-6 in UBC's favour. The T-Birds headed into the third and final frame holding on to their 3-2 lead, but would fall at the hands of the fiery home team in the third 4-3.

Rafter ended the night with a goal and an assist to win the Canada West scoring title. She led the league in goals (20), assists (18), and points (38).

Quarterfinals against the Calgary Dinos will take place next Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, and if necessary, game three will take place on Sunday at 3 p.m. (Pacific).