The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey team defeated the visiting Calgary Dinos 3-2, notching all three goals in a span of just over three minutes in the second period.
 
With the 'W', the Thunderbirds (7-2-5-1) now sit solely in second place in the Canada West with 26 points. The Dinos ­­– now 2-0-9-4 –remain in eighth with 10.
 
After a slow first period, the Thunderbirds came roaring out in the second to score three consecutive goals to take and hold the lead. Fourth-year Haneet Parhar (West Vancouver), rookie Mathea Fischer (Oslo, Norway), and third-year Kathleen Cahoon (Calgary) all scored within three minutes.
 
"We came out really, really flat," head coach Graham Thomas said. "We had a little heart-to-heart between the first and the second and the players figured it out. I've got to give them all the credit. Whatever it was that needed to be done, they did it and we came out there in the second fired up and that was the difference. Bang, bang, bang."
 
The Dinos got on the board first, scoring 11:23 into the opening frame. Gavrilova battled for a puck along the boards and made a cross-crease pass to Sasha Vafina, and the two top-five Canada West scorers combined for Calgary's first tally. Vafina knocked the puck past fifth-year goaltender Danielle Dube (New Westminster, B.C.), stick side.
 
"The first period was a weathering storm," said team captain Cailey Hay. The fifth-year was on the ice for all three UBC goals. "But we came back in the second and responded physically. They're a strong team and we came out and battled hard and our compete level really saw us through."
  
Two minutes into the second, second-year defenceman Celine Tardif (Parksville, B.C.) wound up at the point and fired hard at Dinos goaltender Sarah Murray. The netminder gave up a rebound that Fischer was able to corral and feed to Parhar for her second goal of the season.
 
Two minutes later, UBC found themselves on the player-advantage, one of the seven times of the game. Fischer carried the puck along the blue line and decided to try her luck, firing a quick shot from the top of the circle. The puck squeezed past a shielded Murray at 4:31.
 
Just after another Calgary expired, fourth-year UBC forwards Stephanie Schaupmeyer (Kelowna, B.C.) and Nicole Saxvik (North Vancouver) broke up a Dinos offensive set up and dished the puck to Cahoon, who pedaled furiously on her breakaway, drawing Murray to the right before going stick side for UBC's third goal, 5:37 into the second.
 
"Honestly, it was a good play by my line mates to free the puck," Cahoon said following the game. "I just kind of went down and was like, 'oh my gosh, I have all this time' and the move just kind of came to me. But it was really a great play by my line mates setting me up."
 
Calgary wouldn't go quite into the night, netting the final goal of the game late in the third. At 17:20, Gavrilova scored on her own rebound to get her team within a goal. She got a turnover at the UBC blueline and drove down the left wing, pulled the puck back to deke out a Thunderbirds defenceman at the left faceoff circle before firing a shot on Dube. The rebound came right back out to Gavrilova, who put the second-chance opportunity into the net for her seventh goal of the season.
 
UBC was tested in the waning minutes of the game, as they took three penalties in the last 12 minutes of play.
 
Dube stood on her head in the final 33 seconds as the 'Birds rode out a 6-on-4 disadvantage to walk away with the 'W' 3-2. Dube turned aside 11 shots for the victory, while Murray made 24 stops for the Dinos. 
 
UBC went 1-for-7 on the power play, while keeping Calgary at 0-for-3.
 
"We just had to get back to playing our game and believing in our system," Hay said after the victory. "That's what we focused on all week in practice, just playing our game and having faith in the way we play the game."
 
The teams will finish off their weekend series tomorrow afternoon with a 3 p.m. PT game at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.