VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds fell 4-1 to the Manitoba Bisons in Game 2 of the Canada West women's hockey championship Saturday night in Vancouver.
 
The best-of-three series is now tied at a game apiece, with the deciding matchup to take place Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. PT at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. UBC won Friday's Game 1 by a score of 2-1.
 
T-Bird defenceman Kelly Murray (Medicine Hat, Alta.) opened the scoring just 2:01 into the game before Venla Hovi (2), Erica Rieder and Erin Kucheravy replied for Manitoba, which also got a 17-save performance in net from Amanda Schubert.
 
Danielle Dube (New Westminster, B.C.) made 23 stops in a losing cause on Saturday.
 
Murray's goal came on a Manitoba defensive turnover into the slot. The Canada West All-Star took the loose puck and backhanded a shot over the blocker of Schubert.
 
The Bisons turned the game around with their first goal, which came with seven seconds left in the second period. Alanna Sharman caused a UBC turnover at the centre line and brought the puck into the T-Birds' zone on a 2-on-1. She dished the puck cross the ice to Hovi, who converted the opportunity to tie the game going into the second intermission.
 
UBC looked like it had scored early in the third when Stephanie Schaupmeyer (Kelowna, B.C.) deflected a pass past Schubert but despite the red light coming on, the on-ice officials judged the puck didn't cross the goal line.



"We have a picture of it zoomed in, it clearly crossed the line," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas. "They didn't even talk to the goal judge. It's frustrating when things like that happen. We didn't get the luck or the bounce on that one."

Manitoba took advantage of the situation minutes later at 7:19, when Rieder put the visitors ahead 2-1. Kayleigh Wiens dumped the puck into the UBC zone and was the first to get to it behind the goal line. With her back to the play, she backhanded a pass into the slot past several players onto the stick of Rieder, who nailed a slapshot into the net from the right point.
 
Less than two minutes later off a scrambled faceoff, Manitoba's Cassandra Taylor advanced a bouncing puck to the front of the UBC net, where it was knocked in by Kucheravy at 8:29.
 
Hovi sealed the game with an unassisted empty-net goal shot from behind the centre line at 16:58.
 
Neither team scored on the power play. Manitoba had three chances, while UBC earned two.
 
"We play well under pressure and we play well in these types of games," said Thomas of Sunday's third-and-deciding game. "The girls in there don't want to have their season end tomorrow. They want to fight for each other. It's for spending a couple more weeks together and going to nationals. So we're going to be very motivated.

"It's going to test our mental toughness. But this team responds to that stuff. We're resilient and we're at our best when our backs are up against the wall so we have all the confidence that we're going to bring it tomorrow. Our leaders are great. Our leaders stood up and said what needed to be said. Our team has great leadership. We rely on them to own the group there and say what needed to be said."