VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team suffered a loss in an exhibition game against the Alberta Golden Bears this Saturday, falling 3-2 in overtime. After the second of five non-conference preseason games, UBC is now 1-1-0.
 
The non-conference game had the Thunderbirds scoring twice in the second period to take the lead, but they were unable to shut down the Golden Bears, giving up two goals in the third and losing in 4-on-4 overtime.
 
Third-year centre Luke Lockhart (Burnaby, B.C.) opened scoring in the second, netting the puck with the help of rookies Joel Hamilton (Cochrane, Alta.) and Austin Vetterl (Surrey, B.C.). Lockhart, who suffered a scare following a check from behind in an earlier preseason game against Simon Fraser, appeared to be in tip-top shape. Eight minutes later, Hamilton assisted his second goal of the evening, getting the puck to Scott MacDonald (Surrey, B.C.) for the T-Birds' second tally.
 
Consecutive goals from the Golden Bears in the third on power plays revealed some weaknesses in UBC's special teams, as both Jordan Rowley and Jordan Hickmott took advantage of the extra-man situations at 15:36 and 5:46.
 
Third-year goaltender Matt Hewitt (New Westminster, B.C.), who split last year's season with Eric Williams (Langley, B.C.), was pegged with the loss as Thomas Carr scored against him unassisted in sudden death overtime. With three goals against in total, Hewitt stopped 34 out of 37 shots.
 
The Thunderbirds are good for round two against the Golden Bears today at 2:30 p.m. (PT) at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, B.C.