VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey team emerged victorious in their first CIS matchup of the season against the McGill Martlets on Friday night. The 3-1 win drops the puck on UBC's three-game weekend at the women's hockey East vs. West Showcase, taking place at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. 
 
A cautious and defensive first period from both teams was followed by forty minutes of steady back-and-forth action. Between the pipes it was a battle of rookie goaltenders as UBC's Amelia Boughn and McGill's Tricia Deguire both had impressive performances, with 10 and 22 saves respectively.
 

Pre-game warmups at The Doug.@UBCWHKY vs @McGillAthletics #EastvsWestShowcase ?? pic.twitter.com/aIv4Kjt267

— Har Journalist (@HarJournalist) September 17, 2016

 
Cassandra Vilgrain, who logged two assist on Friday night, attributed her success to the Thunderbirds' depth and team dynamic.
 
"It's pretty easy to be successful on this team. My linemates made it pretty easy for me to have a decent game. Right off the bat we had some good chemistry," acknowledged Vilgrain. 
 
A crafty wraparound from UBC's Logan Boyd resulted in the night's opening goal at 8:04 in the first. Haneet Parhar and Vilgrain picked up helpers on the play. 


 
Taking advantage of a late-period five-on-four, UBC applied enough pressure to finally outmaneuver Deguire. Hannah Clayton-Carroll, hovering around the blue paint, took advantage of a rebound and tucked in the 'Birds second at 17:03 in the second. 
 
With only ten seconds remaining in the period, McGill's Rachel Santini and Alison MacKenzie fed the puck up to Marie-Philip Lavoie, who took off on a breakaway. She unloaded a backhand top-shelf, cutting the T-Birds lead to one. 
 
Strong goaltending from both ends prevented either team from registering a goal throughout the majority of final twenty, though UBC picked up an open-net insurance goal by Jenna Carpenter-Boesch in the final minute of play. 


 
UBC Head Coach Graham Thomas was happy with his team's performance so early in the season. 
 
"I thought it was a really good game…against a great opponent. For this time of year, we're in a good place," noted Thomas. 
 
"It's nice to see we're building off where we…finished last year. It's really coming together. It was exciting." 
 
UBC will take on the Western Mustangs on Saturday, September 17th at 3:30 PM (PT). They will then face the NAIT Ooks the following morning at 11:00 AM (PT). Both games will be played at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.