VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (17-3-3-1) scored three times on the power play Saturday blanking the Lethbridge Pronghorns (3-17-1-3) for the second straight game with a 3-0 win at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Tory Micklash made 17 saves for her second shut out of the season while UBC now needs just four more points to secure first place in the Canada West standings.
After struggling on the man advantage Friday night, the T-Birds executed on a re-invigored power play Saturday finishing the game 3-for-9 while killing off all three Pronghorn opportunities. UBC dominated from start to finish outshooting Lethbridge 17-2 in the first period alone and 36-17 overall.
"We had better focus tonight, we were sharper and we were back to playing our game, it felt right again," said UBC head coach
Graham Thomas who dressed only 16 skaters Saturday due to continuing injury woes.
"I'm really proud of the girls on their resiliency and battling through adversity."
After running into another stellar goaltending performance, this time courtesy of Jessica Lohues, UBC finally managed to open scoring with just 18 seconds left in the first period when
Nicole Saxvik scored on the power play. The puck bounced off
Stephanie Schaupmeyer's skate while Saxvik picked up the loose puck for her team-leading 12th of the season.
Alexa Ranahan earned the second assist.
The T-Birds doubled their lead on another man advantage at the 8:30 mark of the second when
Celine Tardif's shot from high in the zone found its way through traffic and past Lohues for her second of the season.
Hannah Clayton-Carroll and
Katie Zinn picked up the helpers.
Then late in the third on yet another man advantage, Schaupmeyer put the icing on the cake with her fifth of the season from
Cassandra Vilgrain and Zinn as the T-Birds improved their home-ice record to 10-2.
"It was a huge weekend for us to gain some momentum back," said Saxvik who now has 23 points on the season, third in the Canada West scoring race.
"We really trusted our systems this game and got back to hard work and determination. We were really relentless and it paid off."
The T-Birds take their conference leading record back on the road heading to Regina for a pair of games against the Cougars Friday and Saturday before finishing the regular season at home against the Mount Royal Cougars the following weekend.
