VANCOUVER – Led by three points from Rylind MacKinnon, the T-Birds powered their way to an 8-3 win over the Trinity Western Spartans Friday afternoon at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
UBC's offence put on a show as Mackenzie Kordic, Ireland Perrott, Shay-Lee McConnell, and Joelle Fiala combined for 9 points during the annual school day game.
Both squads came out firing, as action was fast-paced from the opening faceoff. The teams traded penalties and MacKinnon took advantage of the open-ice during 4-on-4, starting and finishing a nice give-and-go rush with Chanreet Bassi to give UBC (8-3) the early lead.
However, the Spartans (2-9) responded less than a minute later as captain Neisha Germann wired an unassisted shorthanded goal past Elise Hugens.
Perrott benefitted from nifty power play passing, putting UBC ahead 2-1, late in the first period. She followed that up just over a minute later by going top-shelf on a slapshot from the point, snatching the momentum for her team.
"We take these games seriously," said Perrott. "It's important we show up and play our best and not focus on the score at the end of the game but rather just the standard to which the group plays at. We just have to focus on bringing it every night and just focus on getting as many wins as we can this year because it's such a tight season."
The young fans in attendance appreciated the physical battle on the ice, but the Spartans found themselves in penalty trouble and UBC made them pay with 5 power play goals on 9 attempts.
"Very impressed, we're working hard at it, the players are finding ways to find each other, and that's exactly what you want from your powerplay, if it's not broken don't fix it," said UBC Head Coach Graham Thomas.
Just past the halfway point of the 2021-22 season, there are many positives to celebrate for the T-Birds. With the victory, UBC is now tied for first place in Canada West standings alongside Mount Royal and Manitoba.
A dominant performance on special teams has moved the T-birds from second into the league's top ranked power play.
The T-Birds will host the Spartans again Saturday afternoon in the last game of 2021 for both teams.
"It doesn't matter who we're playing, we have a very tight race going on at the top, these points matter, these games matter, and this team is going to continue to come out hard," said Thomas, stressing the importance of every point this season. "It's their first year in the league and we can't expect anything less. It's our last game before the break so hopefully there's some extra motivation to bring our best."
Saturday's rematch is set for 3:00 p.m. PT. Tickets are available but must be reserved in advance. The game will also be streamed live on Canada West TV.
