VANCOUVER – Katie Zinn scored her first of the season while Amelia Boughn was perfect in goal for the UBC Thunderbirds (16-3-3-1) who earned a 1-0 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns (3-16-1-3) Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
 
It was a gritty affair with spectacular goaltending at both ends of the ice. Boughn made 13 saves for her third shut out of the season while Lethbridge's Alicia Anderson stopped 33 pucks earning the game's third star.
 
"I think a lot of us stepped up tonight and shows the depth that we have," said Zinn, whose second period tally stood up as the game winner.
 
"It was definitely a grind. The puck definitely wasn't bouncing our way but we stuck to what we knew and kept working hard which is all you can really do in those kinds of games."
 
If not for Anderson, the T-Birds could have had a two- or three-goal lead after the first 20 minutes alone as the Lethbridge goaltender made eight first-period saves, including a couple spectacular ones while Boughn faced just three shots.
 
The Thunderbirds finally got on the board at the 14:51 mark of the second period when Zinn jammed home a loose puck at the side of the net. Logan Boyd fired a shot off the post while the puck bounced just wide of the far side of the net before Zinn found it underneath a heap of skates converging by the crease.
 
It wasn't for a lack of opportunities for UBC to increase their lead, especially on the power play as the 'Birds failed to convert on 11 opportunities. The Pronghorns failed to score on their lone power play chance which came midway through the first period.
 

Shutout win! @UBCWHKY grind it out with a 1-0 win over @UofLPronghorns. @ameliab20 gets her 3rd shutout of the season. Rematch tomorrow, 4pm pic.twitter.com/uQWGszNC3W

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) January 28, 2017

"We were able to gut it out, it was a gutsy win," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas.
 
"It got a little chippy and a little dirty but I was proud of the girls who kept their heads and kept their focus."
 
The Pronghorns did generate a number of quality chances and nearly scored short handed in the second period after Boughn came way out of her crease to play the puck. Lethbridge was able to maintain the zone and if not for Cassandra Vilgrain making a terrific save of her own in the blue paint at 9:37 on Sarah Spence, the visitors would have been on the board. Spence intercepted Boughn's clearance at the UBC blue line and fired a wrist shot from outside the right faceoff circle, only to be foiled by the T-Birds' forward. It was one of a team-high four shots by Spence on the night.
 
"We have to be a bit smarter with the puck and have a more defence first mentality," said Thomas as he prepares his team for Saturday's rematch.
 
The win improves the T-Birds to 9-2 on home ice while UBC maintains their seven-point lead over Manitoba and Alberta for first in the Canada West. With the loss, the Pronghorns are officially eliminated from the conference playoff race.
 
The Thunderbirds and Pronghorns meet for the fourth and final time this season Saturday afternoon at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m. PT.