WINNIPEG — The No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds (9-4-1-1) employed a strong defensive strategy to clinch a 3-0 win over the No. 4 University of Manitoba Bisons Friday night at Winnipeg's Wayne Fleming Arena.

A close game, the T-Birds broke a nine-game Bisons winning streak while Tory Micklash made 16 saves for her first shutout of the season.

"Chasing the game is tough because of the way that they play and I thought getting down early took a bit of momentum away from us," said Manitoba head coach Jon Rempel. "They took away things in our power play that we've been able to do all year and we didn't make enough adjustments."

UBC got two empty-net goals in the last minutes of the third period to seal the victory in what was otherwise a very tight game.

With the loss, Manitoba's record sits at 10-4-1-0 and UBC moves to 9-4-1-1 closing the gap in the Canada West standings as only two points separate the first place Bisons from the second place T-Birds.

UBC's first goal of the evening came on a power play courtesy of Brielle Bellerive. Assists on the goal went to Kathleen Cahoon and Shay-Lee McConnell.



The Bisons couldn't capitalize on a penalty-filled second period and remained 0-for-5 on the man advantage.

There were opportunities in the second but neither goalie let anything past while the score remained 1-0. 

Coming into the third, Manitoba was all over UBC and had some good chances but the Thunderbirds picked up the pace again after an early timeout was called.

Emily Costales and Celine Tardif got the two unassisted empty-net goals. The home side finished 0-for-7 on the power play in the loss while the 'Birds went 1-for-2.

UBC outshot the Herd by a 18-16 margin while Bison 'tender Lauren Taraschuk took the loss with 15 saves.

Excellent road game for @UBCWHKY, awesome PK group well earned shutout by Micklash! So proud of the coaches on their adjustments & the team's ability to adjust so quickly ! Round 2 tomorrow! #detailsmatter

— Pasco Valana (@goaliecoach) December 2, 2017

"The power play was far too deliberate today, we sort of took our time with the puck instead of moving with speed and efficiency like we have been all year," Rempel added. "So, we have to fix that for tomorrow if we want to play a little bit better. Overall, close game, tight checking, physical."

Both teams will meet again at the Wayne Fleming Arena on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. PT.