WOLFVILLE, Nova Scotia – The UBC Thunderbirds played their hearts out only to have them broken in double overtime as the UQTR Patriotes advanced to the University Cup semifinals with a 2-1 win Friday night in Wolfville.
Trailing 1-0 after the opening period, Cyle McNabb, who played perhaps his best game as a Thunderbird, tied the game in the middle of the second period with a critical goal in a game that was short on them. After a scoreless 10-minute overtime period, it took another 12 minutes into double OT before Felix Lauzon was credited with the game winner after the puck deflected off a T-Bird stick and past Rylan Toth who was tremendous all night long making 50 saves.
The end result for UBC is nothing short of a gut-wrenching defeat, especially given the events of the past two years, and even more especially so for the five senior players.
"I was a player for 17 years and when you become a coach you learn to really care for your players and it starts with the recruiting trail and watching them grow into men," said UBC Head Coach Sven Butenschon, reflecting on Toth, captain Tyler Sandhu, Matt Revel, Austin Glover, and Shaun Dosanjh who all played their final game in the blue and gold. "Getting to watch that is pretty gratifying."
The Patriotes opened scoring in the final quarter-final game of the tournament with just 1.3 seconds left in the first when Felix Boivin jammed in a rebound with plenty of traffic in front of Toth on the power play. It capped off what had been a fairly evenly played opening 20 minutes with both goaltenders making some terrific saves including Alexis Gravel denying McNabb on a deflection in tight with about five minutes remaining.
UBC gained traction throughout the second and got a massive boost when McNabb converted on a breakaway midway through the period, firing the puck bar down to tie the game 1-1 while seemingly lifting a big weight off the T-Birds' shoulders. The 'Birds continued to dominate the rest of the frame in terms of shots and chances, outshooting UQTR by a 12-6 margin.
Both teams had their opportunities in the third, but both goaltenders continued their stellar play, forcing the game into OT.
Lauzon's game winner so abruptly ended a terrific, challenging, and emotional season for UBC.
The future may have never been brighter for this program, but that hardly takes the sting away from this moment. But there's a strong sense this team will be back on the national stage and with better results in the very near future.
"We lost an entire season, those guys. And then when this season rolled around we had 12 or 13 first year guys that are looking up to those veterans and what a legacy those guys are going to leave," added Butenschon of the lasting impact his senior players have had and will continue to have. "The program is in a way better spot than it was before those older guys got here. They've taken it to another level, they've set a new standard for us and the young guys in the room should be grateful to be able to have learned from them."
