VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey team (7-5-2-2) are aiming to get 2016 started off right, as they prepare to take on the visiting Mount Royal Cougars (6-7-2-1) in a set of back-to-back contests this weekend. The opening puck drop on Friday, January 8 is set for 7 p.m. (PT), while the game on Saturday, January 9 is set for a 3 p.m. start time. Both games will take place at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.Â
The T-Birds finished 2015 with an uneven stretch of games, going 3-2-0-1 in their last five contests of the calendar year. The 'Birds were hit-or-miss on offence during that stretch, scoring 3+ goals three times, and getting blanked in regulation three times (though they won a double overtime against Saskatchewan 1-0 in on November 14). UBC finished 2015 with a home split against Calgary, winning 3-2 on Nov. 27 before losing 4-3 in overtime the next day.Â
The 'Birds feature two of the top 20 Canada West scorers in forward Rebecca Unrau (Humboldt, Sask.) and Kathleen Cahoon (Calgary). Unrau's 13 points in 16 contests, with eight goals and five assists, has her seventh in the conference, while Cahoon's six goals and four assists are good for 14th in the scoring race.Â
Like UBC, Mount Royal had an up-and-down November, finishing with a 2-2-2 mark. However, the success that they had is largely due to the terrific play of fourth-year forward Sarah Weninger. The Lethbridge, Alta., native was terrific over six games in the final month of 2015, collecting at least a point in each contest, and finishing with four goals and three assists over the stretch.  The season series between the two clubs has been tilted in UBC's favour thus far, as the Thunderbirds took both games in the season-opening set of back-to-back games, winning 2-0 and 4-3 in overtime.Â
MRU split a pair of 2-1 games with Saskatchewan in its last series of 2015, winning on November 27.
