The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER – The Alberta Golden Bears completed the sweep of the UBC Thunderbirds winning 6-2 on Saturday night to advance to the Canada West final in search of their 51st league title. Torrie Dyck and Jamie Crooks scored twice while Jordan Hickmott and Sean Ringrose collected the only other multi-point performances as Luke Siemens backstopped Alberta to a 2-0 series victory with a 23-save performance.
 
BOX SCORE
 
Alberta's top two lines continued to wreck havoc against the Thunderbirds combining for four goals in the opening frame. The Golden Bears scored three unanswered to start the game with the first two goals courtesy of Dyck, collecting his second and third tallies of the playoffs. At 5:47 of the first period, Dyck found himself on a 2-on-1 with Ringrose and fired one short side on Steven Stanford to put the home team up 1-0.
 
Dyck added another at the 14:47 as a puck trickled by Stanford to give the home team a two-goal advantage as the top-line gave the Thunderbirds defensive core more trouble in the defensive end.
 
A mere 37 seconds later, Hickmott scored the Golden Bears' third unanswered as the former Prince Albert Raider put away his second of the playoffs on an unassisted tally. The goal forced UBC head coach Milan Dragicevic to take a timeout in an effort to allow his players to regain their composure.
 
The Thunderbirds responded at the 17:33 mark of the first period, on the power play, as Buonassisi cut the deficit to two on the team's fourth man-advantage of the period.  Heavy traffic out front combined with a lose puck opened the opportunity for Buonassisi to sneak one by Siemens for his third of the playoffs.
 
Crooks would sap UBC's energy with just over a minute remaining in the first period as the rookie was the recipient of a cross-ice pass on a 2-on-1 and fired one past Stanford restoring the three-goal advantage at 4-1. 
 
UBC had plenty of opportunities in the first thanks to four power play chances but converted on just one of them; as Alberta stifled UBC on the majority of its penalty kill. Shots were 15-8 in favour of the Golden Bears entering the first intermission.
 
The second period was the series' only scoreless period as the Thunderbirds went 0-for-3 on the power play while the Golden Bears were shut out on their three attempts during the second. Alberta continued its lead in shots with a 25-15 margin over UBC through two periods.
 
The 4-1 score would carry all the way through to 1:56 mark when Cole Wilson scored to make the game a 4-2 score with the net empty and the extra attacker on the ice.
 
With the net still empty, Crooks would add his second of the game before Levko Koper added an empty-netter of his own to ice the game with a 6-2 score, tripling up the Thunderbirds to win the series.
 
When all was said and done, the Thunderbirds could only convert on one of their seven power play opportunities while Alberta went 0-for-5 on its man-advantage chances.  The two teams combined for 50 minutes of penalties in a scrappy affair Saturday night.
 
Siemens, who was 11-1 and had a .919 save percentage during the regular season, got the start for the Golden Bears Saturday evening after Kurtis Mucha won last night's affair. At the other end of the ice, Stanford had 35 saves for the Thunderbirds facing 39 shots on the night. Shots were 41-25 in favour of the Alberta at the game's conclusion.
 
Alberta advances to the Canada West final where the Golden Bears will face off against either the Calgary Dinos or the Manitoba Bisons with the winner of the series advancing to the 2014 University Cup in Saskatoon.