VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds are the 2021 Captains Cup champions after downing the visiting Trinity Western Spartans 7-2 in the tournament final Saturday afternoon at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
After Ryleigh Anderson scored late in the second to pull the Spartans within two, the T-Birds added three more in the final period, two of them on the power play, to secure their third straight Captains Cup while completing the preseason schedule a perfect 5-0.
"It's been a real grind with the combination of the first month of real school for a lot of the guys, some exams mixed in there and all the on-ice work they've done and in the gym, so it's a nice way to finish things off," said UBC Head Coach
Sven Butenschon. "The Captains Cup is always cool to play for and it was a great opportunity for us as coaches to see the group in all kinds of situations. Everybody chipped in and were able to contribute and we're looking for more of that as we go forward."
Conner McDonald opened scoring just 54 seconds into the contest on a nice rush up the fresh ice, but the Spartans were able to counter thanks to Jadon Joseph as the game was tied heading through 20 minutes.
Carson Miller broke the deadlock early in the second with a snipe on the power play, his fourth of the preseason.
The 'Birds opened up a two-goal lead six-and-a-half minutes into the middle frame when UBC captain Tyler Sandhu tipped home a Ryan Pouliot point shot.
Rookie T-Bird Scott Atkinson sniped his fourth of the preseason, right off a faceoff following a TWU icing, snapping the puck over the shoulder of Spartans goaltender Talor Joseph. Chris Douglas picked up the lone helper.
Trinity Western got back within a pair with just under five minutes remaining in the period when Anderson took a feed down low and beat T-Birds netminder Rylan Toth up high.
Things got rather chippy in the late stages of the period with a combined 12 minutes in penalties assessed in the final five minutes.
If the Spartans had ideas of a third period comeback, those thoughts were quickly dashed as the T-Birds struck twice within the first three minutes.
Jarret Tyszka scored just 90 seconds into the final frame and Quinn Benjafield added a power play goal off a goal mouth scramble just over a minute later as UBC took a four goal lead.
"I think it speaks to the depth of our forward group, if you're relentless and you have four lines going on the forecheck and constantly hounding defencemen so they can't break out of their own zone cleanly, and you're getting to rebounds first, the dam's going to break eventually," added Butenschon. "That's what we've been seeing and I think it's going to be a really fun group to coach."
The 'Birds added another power play goal at the 5:39 mark of the third as Cyle McNabb deflected a Jonathan Smart blast to make it a five-goal UBC advantage.
As the game neared the midway point of the third, a scary moment occurred when one of the referees took a puck in the mouth after it deflected off the crossbar from a slap shot. Luckily he was able to make his own way off the ice after some worrying moments, but both teams agreed to call the game early.
UBC finished 3-for-10 on the power play and killed off all three TWU opportunities. The 'Birds also dominated on the shot clock, by a 35-11 margin as Toth picked up the win in goal.
These two teams are just getting their Canada West rivalry started as they meet again next weekend to open up the regular season. The two-game series begins Friday, October 15th at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre with puck drop at 7:00 p.m. PT.
