Saskatoon, SK – The UBC Thunderbirds (5-4-1) found themselves in a 2-2 tie heading into the final period Saturday night but the No. 3 Saskatchewan Huskies (8-1-1) scored three times in the third ending the 'Birds' five-game point streak with a 5-2 loss at Saskatoon's Rutherford Rink.
Saskatchewan trailed the T-Birds 2-1 entering the final 28 minutes of the game but then scored four unanswered goals seal the win.
"We played a great game and it could've gone either way," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon. "We just made a couple more mistakes than they did and they capitalized. Saskatchewan plays really smart, disciplined hockey, they don't give up much, they don't take chances."
Saskatchewan didn't waste any time getting on the board Saturday night scoring just 1:03 into the game. Michael Sofillas' shot on a pass from behind the net beat Ryan Toth over the shoulder, just under the crossbar.
UBC tied the game shortly after on a quick transition into the Huskies' zone.
Manraj Hayer's shot trickled through Jordon Cooke's five-hole at 4:06. Tyler Sandhu then beat Cooke on a shot from the side of the net before he could cover the post at the 18:18 mark to give the T-Birds the one goal lead.
From there, the rest of the offence came from Saskatchewan.
Kohl Bauml tied the game on a power play 12:48 into the second period when Levi Cable found him in front.
A turnover in the neutral zone set up a Huskies odd-man rush. Alex Forsberg sent a cross ice pass to Parker Thomas who beat Toth nine minutes into the third to give the Huskies the lead.
Sofillas scored his second of the night on the power play at 15:48 for the two-goal cushion. Logan McVeigh added the empty-netter with just 16 seconds remaining.
Toth made 36 saves in the game for the T-Birds playing in his hometown while Cooke stopped 26 for Saskatchewan at the other end of the ice.
"We competed with one of the top teams in Canada for six periods in a really tough rink which is known to have a serious home ice advantage," said Butenschon who was pleased with the resilience of the 'Birds against some serious adversity. "It was good to see we didn't quit right to the end. Even though they scored a couple late goals we were still pushing and still got some chances."
The 'Birds are back home next weekend after four straight games on the road saw them pick up five out of a possible eight points. UBC hosts the Mount Royal Cougars Friday and Saturday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
