EDMONTON – Amelia Boughn made 24 stops to earn her second shutout of the young season, as the UBC Thunderbirds defeated the Alberta Pandas 2-0, Friday night at Clare Drake Arena.  The win bumps UBC to 4-1 in 2016, good for second overall in Canada West. Alberta, meanwhile, suffers their first regulation loss and slips to 2-1-2.

"It's a hard rink to play in," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas of Clare Drake Arena, named after the former T-Birds player. "They're the most decorated program in Canada. We are really proud of our group we battled hard from the start to the end."
 
UBC received all of their offence in the first period, getting goals from third-year forward Logan Boyd, as well as sophomore Mathea Fischer. Senior Lindsey Post stopped 16 of 18 shots she faced in the loss.

Despite outshooting the Thunderbirds 24-18 through 60 minutes, including 10-1 in the second period, the Pandas shortcomings were on special teams as the second-ranked power play unit entering the matchup went a dismal 0-5 on Friday. UBC went 0-6 by comparison, but were holding a two goal lead for the majority of the hockey game.

The visitors would open the scoring nine minutes into the third period, taking advantage of a juicy rebound. Celine Tardif's initial point shot was stopped by Post, but the puck squirted free and behind the veteran stopper, with Boyd jamming the puck into the empty cage.

Fischer doubled the lead five minutes later on a play started by Haneet Parhar. After Parhar lost control of the puck in the slot, Fischer was able to grab the loose rubber, before firing a behind-the-back spinning shot toward the Alberta net, sneaking the puck past the outstretched pad of Post.

UBC was also snake-bitten on special teams, failing to capitalize on three first period Alberta penalties, including a 5-on-3 advantage for over a minute.

Alberta flipped the script in the second, owning the majority of possession and control of the shot clock, but were unable to penetrate the insurmountable UBC defence.

The third period was much more even, with teams trading unsuccessful powerplay chances. Boughn made arguably the best stop of the Canada West season on Alberta's best third period scoring chance, robbing Ashley Morin on a one-timer in the slot with an out-of-this world sliding pad save. Deanna Morin also rung a hard wrist shot off the crossbar in the dying minutes in the Pandas final scoring opportunity.

"Amelia stood on her head for us tonight on a couple of occasions," said Thomas. "She's very athletic, she's very astute and she's been working really hard with our goalie coach Pascal Valana during the week. She really loves the game and is a student of the game."

These two U Sports Top 10 opponents will face off once more tomorrow night, with a 1 p.m. PT puck drop scheduled for Clare Drake Arena.