VANCOUVER – Coming off of a sweep of the Mount Royal Cougars, the UBC women's hockey team aims to carry that momentum into a pair of clashes with the Calgary Dinos this weekend. Puck drop for the game on Friday, October 16 is slated for 6 p.m. (PT), while the second half of the back-to-back is set for 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 17. Both games will take place at WinSport Olympic Park.
Last week, the Thunderbirds earned their first two wins in conference play on the road against Mount Royal, spoiling the Cougars' home opener. They were able to shut the Cougars out 2-0 in their first of back-to-back victories, and then secured the sweep in overtime thanks to
Rebecca Unrau (Humboldt, Sask.) netting her second goal of the 4-3 'W.'
Calgary is hoping their home opener goes a little more smoothly. After starting their season with two weekends on the road and earning a split most recently against the Saskatchewan Huskies, the Dinos will look to increase their in-conference record of 1-3. Fifth-year forward Iya Gavrilova and her helping hands have been the engine of the Dinos' offense, as she currently sits second in CIS for assists with four.
"Right now it's all about preparation," head coach
Graham Thomas said, previewing the upcoming series. "Our mindset right now is that we've still got a lot of work to do. It's early on in the season and we're still really getting to know ourselves, our systems, our own game. We've got to continue to build off some of the things we did last weekend and keep that momentum going."
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If play early in the season is any indication, Unrau is the key to that momentum. The fifth-year sniper has scored four goals in four CIS games, leading UBC in scoring with five points in conference play. Unrau is also currently the only Thunderbird with more than one goal. Second-year forward
Logan Boyd (Waterdown, Ont.) is second on the team in points, with three assists in four games.
UBC has also been getting contributions from their young guns, as three out of the T-Birds' five CIS rookies all have points just four games into the season.
Shiayli Toni (Saskatoon, Sask.) and
Mikayla Ogrodniczuk (Vancouver) scored their first goals against Mount Royal, and
Mathea Fischer (Oslo, Norway) earned her first assist that weekend, too.
Laura Trachsel (Switzerland) and
Hannah Clayton-Carroll (Vancouver) will look to add to that total against the Dinos.
As much as the T-Birds have prepared to play the Dinos themselves, they've also had to specifically ready themselves to play on Calgary's Olympic-sized rink.
"This week we worked on a lot of neutral zone play and controlled breakouts, making some adjustments to our speed and focusing on our game," Thomas said. "We're still building our systems, our five-on-five play and our specialty teams, but that was kind of the main focus of practice this week, just preparing for a big sheet of ice and working in the neutral zone and controlled breakouts."
After their clashes in Calgary, the 'Birds will make their way home to prepare for next week, as the Manitoba Bisons will make their way to the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre for a set of back-to-back games on Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24.
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