VANCOUVER – Two of the best teams in the Canada West women's hockey league will battle in Vancouver this weekend.
 
Following last Saturday's impressive 6-2 victory over the Mt. Royal Cougars (7-8-2-1), the UBC Thunderbirds (8-6-2-2) hope to generate the same offensive pressure when they host the first-place Alberta Pandas (11-6-0-1) this weekend. 
 
UBC comes into the weekend sitting in third place in the league standings with 30 points, four behind Alberta. The Pandas are ranked 10th in the national
 
The teams will first face-off on Friday, January 15 at 7 p.m. (PT), then again on Saturday, January 16 at 3 p.m. (PT). Both games will be hosted at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Two UBC players, Rebecca Unrau (Humboldt, Sask.) and Cailey Hay (Oakbank, Man.) will be presented with gold helmets for surpassing the 100-regular season game mark with the Thunderbirds program.
 
The offensive outburst that characterized last Saturday's 6-2 win ended in stark contrast to the 2-0 defeat the night prior. 
 
Going 4-3-0-1 since November, UBC has often seemed like two different teams: one logging three or more goals per night, the other none at all. The 'Birds have gone scoreless in three of their previous six contests. 
 
Two of those shutouts came during back-to-back games against the Pandas in late November. Alberta has only allowed two goals against, and recorded five shutouts, in their last six games.
 
With nine UBC players registering points last Saturday, taking advantage of their scoring depth will be a key factor this weekend.
 
"When we play to our potential we are a very dangerous team," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas. "We need to be ready to compete and battle hard for the entire [game]...if we do that we will be successful."
 
UBC has no shortage of players capable of providing an offensive boost. Unrau leads her team with 17 points, tied for eighth nation-wide. Kathleen Cahoon (Calgary) has 11 points, while eight other Thunderbirds have five or more points this season. 
 
Kelly Murray (Calgary) is the team's top-scoring defenceman with a goal and seven assists in 18 Canada West league games.
 
UBC's goaltending has also been solid, with Danielle Dube (New Westminster, B.C.) and Samantha Langford (Pense, Sask.) logging 1.60 and 1.93 goals-against averages, respectively.
 
They will be up against against Alberta's Lindsey Post, who has maintained an impressive 1.20 GAA and a .933 save percentage.
 
Alex Poznikoff leads the Pandas in scoring with 11 points in 18 games, followed by Janelle Froehler and Morgan Kelly, who both have 10 points. Kelly is second in Canada West scoring amongst defenders.
 
After this weekend's series, the rest of UBC's games in January will be on the road.