VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds posted a 4-2 victory over the Calgary Dinos Friday night in Canada West men's hockey action at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver.

UBC got goals from four different players: Joe Antilla (Madeira Park, B.C.), David Robinson (Vernon, B.C.), Austin Vetterl (Surrey, B.C.) and Anthony Bardaro (Delta, B.C.) while Elgin Pearce and Max Ross replied for Calgary.

Vetterl scored the game-winning goal just 3:17 into the third period on a great individual effort.

Bardaro offered a long cross-ice pass onto Vetterl's stick. The rookie Thunderbird swung around one player then deked out a second cutting inside from the right faceoff circle, passing to himself through the defender's legs. He buried the picturesque goal with a high backhand over the shoulders of Calgary netminder and former T-Bird Steven Stanford. It was Vetterl's first goal at the university level.

With the score at 3-2 and less than a minute left to play, the Dinos pulled Stanford and threw everything they could at the net, creating more than a few solid chances. During the 6-on-5 onslaught, Bardaro blocked a shot at the UBC blueline, grabbed the loose puck in the neutral zone, skated over the blue line and buried the insurance goal with just 37 seconds left in the third.

"It was a hard fought win for us," said Bardaro. "We gave away a lot of chances throughout the game so it was nice to get one at the end. I'm more focused on the team success more than the individual right now."
 
The game was a back-and-forth battle for all 60 minutes, with the visitors getting on the scoreboard first. Forward Pearce tallied at 15:08 of the first period, netting the opening goal with a short-handed wraparound that snuck past UBC goaltender Matt Hewitt (New Westminster, B.C.).
 
UBC responded quickly, however. Veteran forward Antilla received a pass from Vetterl and swept the puck up and over Stanford to tie the game at one apiece. Antilla was also assisted by Bardaro, who moved to the top of the Canada West scoring race with a three-point performance on Friday night.
           
The Dinos attacked ferociously in the second period, adding 10 shots to their game total, but it was UBC that scored first to claim a 2-1 lead at 14:39. On a 3-on-2 break, Robinson kept puck and wired a slap shot high glove side past Stanford from just inside the left faceoff circle.
 
Calgary's Ross tied the game up on a 5-on-3 power play at 17:55. He was able to move into the slot and let go of a wrist shot from just behind the hash marks that got through traffic and past Hewitt.

The Dinos went 1 for 5 on the power play while UBC was successful on one of its four opportunities with the extra skater.

Hewitt stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced on Friday night for his second victory of the season while Stanford made 26 saves on 29 shots.
 
In a contest that could have gone either way, UBC head coach Adam Shell said it was his team's efforts to play their own game, which made the difference in the end.

"We understood that every game in this league is a real battle; you can lose on any night, you can win on any night," he said. "We're identified by relentless waves: no matter who's on the ice you get the same thing. We're regarded as fast and speedy, but we need to grind on both ends and that's what we want to be known for."

UBC (3-0-0) will look to continue its perfect start to the Canada West season on Saturday night at 7 p.m., when it faces Calgary (0-2-1) again at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.