CALGARY- The UBC Thunderbirds (12-1-2-0) won their 13th straight game Friday night by defeating the Calgary Dinos (0-11-1-3) 5-2 at Father David Bauer Arena.
Seeking their first regulation win of the season, the Dinos came out flying, as the Thunderbirds were unable to grab a shot on net through the first five minutes. Shortly after however, Thunderbirds forward Haneet Parhar stole the puck in close and roofed it over the glove hand of Dinos goaltender Kelsey Roberts.
"It was a good game. Calgary came out flying," said UBC Head Coach Graham Thomas. "It's their first home game in a while and we were pretty scrambled for the first eight minutes. Parhar got us going and scored a really nice goal. That settled us down and from then on our power play was really good, and I thought we managed the puck pretty well."
The Dinos managed to draw the first two penalties of the game, but failed to capitalize as the Thunderbirds prevented any scoring chances for the Dinos.
UBC added to their first period lead on the power play, as UBC leading scorer Cassandra Vilgrain set up shop on the left circle before sniping the puck high blocker side past Roberts, giving them a two goal lead heading into the second frame.
Just 14 seconds into the second stanza, Mathea Fischer, in stride, rifled a wrist shot past the low blocker of Roberts, putting UBC up by three. Later on the power play, Thunderbirds captain Stephanie Schaupmeyer deflected a Mairead Bast wrist shot through Roberts, making it 4-0 after two periods.
Sarah Murray started the third period for the Dinos, in place of Kelsey Roberts. This change sparked Calgary, as Alexandra Vafina buried a slap shot past Thunderbirds goaltender, Amelia Boughn, opening the scoring for the Dinos, near the halfway mark of the third. Shortly after. Shiayli Toni, scored her first goal of the season for UBC, restoring a four goal cushion.
The Dinos cut the lead to three, as forward Heather Berzins slipped a back hander over the glove of Boughn, giving them a rare power play marker. That was as close as they would get, as the Thunderbirds cruised the rest of the way for 5-2 decision.
"I think the biggest thing is consistency," added Thomas. "We've had a fantastic run so far and want to make sure we play a full sixty-minutes [tomorrow] and go into the break in the right way.
The two teams will face off again in a matinee game. Puck is set to drop at three o'clock at the Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary.
