CALGARY – The UBC Thunderbirds are playoff bound after a frenetic six and half hours that saw them defeat the Mount Royal Cougars, while the team they were battling for the sixth and final playoff spot in Canada West, the Lethbridge Pronghorns, lost a wild 5-4 decision to the Saskatchewan Huskies.
"Incredible!!!!" exclaimed UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon via text message as his flight back to Vancouver prepared to take off from Calgary Airport.
"We're in! We're going to the playoffs," said UBC assistant coach
Kelvin Cech in an e-mail sent from the tarmac. "And they're yelling at us to turn our phones off because we're taking off! Woo-hoo!"
UBC won their game 2-1 on goals from
Luke Lockhart and
Joe Antilla and a super-human performance by goaltender
Derek Dun, who stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced. Cam Maclise scored the lone goal for Mount Royal in their sixth straight loss.
Saturday's matinee affair had a distinct playoff atmosphere surrounding it. UBC was literally fighting for their playoff lives and Mount Royal was trying to right the ship in the midst of a five-game losing streak. The Cougars controlled the play early but yielded the first goal of the game.
Luke Lockhart scored his ninth of the season to open the scoring for UBC at the 8:04 mark of the first. The Thunderbirds bench erupted and the momentum seemed to swing in their favour.
Cam Maclise scored on the power play to even the game at one, with under five minutes left in the period. Connor Rankin set up the goal with his league-leading 36th point of the season
.
Fifth-year senior
Joe Antilla broke the deadlock for UBC with a power play goal at the 5:00 minute mark. After Mount Royal hit the crossbar, Antilla and the Thunderbirds went the other way and stormed the crease. With Colin Cooper down and out, Antilla shoveled the puck under him to restore the UBC lead.
David Stephens nearly tied the game in the third period but was absolutely robbed by Dun. The Cougars pressure was relentless but Dun remained un-phased, shutting the door on Mount Royal and allowing just the one goal.
The Thunderbirds improve to 12-13-3 after the weekend sweep.
The win set UBC up for an intense viewing session of the Lethbridge Pronghorns and Saskatchewan Huskies game on Canada West TV. The match-up saw Saskatchewan jump out to a 3-0 lead, before a late goal by Lethbridge made the score 5-4 with 42 seconds remaining. With their goalie on the bench for an extra attacker and their skaters buzzing around the Saskatchewan goalmouth, the final horn sounded. The Huskies won and the 'Birds were officially playoff bound.
The Thunderbirds will begin their Canada West playoff season on February 17th in Calgary against the 3rd place Dinos.
