WINNIPEG – Proving their offensive prowess yet again, the UBC Thunderbirds dominated the host Manitoba Bisons by way of an 8-2 victory Friday night at Winnipeg's Wayne Fleming Arena.
Mackenzie Kordic finished the night with five points (2G, 3A) while her line with Madisyn Wiebe and Rhodes combined for nine points while four of UBC's goals came on the power play.
"I'm happy with our offensive execution tonight," said UBC head coach, Graham Thomas, simply. "But we also need to be better on our consistent habits and commitment to team defence."
The T-Birds took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission in a fast-paced period that saw just one infraction to UBC with less than a minute to play.
Manitoba had an excellent chance to open the scoring just under six minutes in. Forward Aimee Patrick received a pass in the neutral zone, peeling from her left to right to enter the attacking zone, out-skating two UBC players in the process.
Her speed created a two-on-one, but Elise Hugens was able to deny forward Ashley Keller with a right pad stop off of Patrick's dish, one of her 23 saves on the night.
Less than a minute later, UBC pushed back to open scoring. The T-Birds won a battle near the half wall, with the puck eventually finding Wiebe's stick. She passed off to Rhodes, who went forehand to backhand in front for a 1-0 lead.
The visitors made it 2-0 with 8:29 left. Wiebe had time and space just above the right circle, winding around for an accurate wrist shot from the left side. Her initial attempt was stopped by Kimmy Davidson, but Kordic was there to tap in the rebound.
With less than three minutes left, Manitoba had another excellent chance, as forward Molly Kunnas stole the puck away in front of the UBC net, dropping it off to Julia Bird, but her wrist shot was denied high blocker by Hugens.
The Wiebe line added to their impressive night less than two minutes into the second period. Kordic controlled possession behind the Bisons' net, finding Wiebe, who tipped her teammate's pass above the blocker of Davidson in front.
The visitors made it 5-0 after 40 thanks to back-to-back power plays less than two minutes apart. First, Kordic scored on a tip-in from MacKinnon, and then with just under seven minutes to go, Sophia Gaskell rounded out the scoring on a wrist shot at the top of the left circle for her first of the year.
Already in control of the game, the T-Birds added three more goals in the third. MacKinnon scored on a wrist shot off a no-look pass with just under three minutes gone, and they got two more tallies off a five-on-three, another from MacKinnon and the other from
Makenzie McCallum.
Manitoba got on the board at the 12:42 mark on the power play, as Brenna Nicol tapped in a shot from the side of the net by Gregoire for her first of the year and added a second with just over two minutes left on a Dana Goertzen wrister.
Now with four wins in five games to start the season – and points in all five – the T-Birds will go for their second weekend sweep of the young season in Saturday's rematch. Puck drop in Winnipeg is set for 12:00 p.m. PT.
