VANCOUVER – The U SPORTS No.2-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (8-2-0-0) are taking on the U SPORTS No.3-ranked Mount Royal Cougars (7-1-0-0) for a titanic November battle between two of the best in the country. The top two teams in Canada West first square off on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. (PT) and then again on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. (PT) both at Doug Mitchell Thunderbirds Sports Centre.
This weekend's series is the second of three between the two budding rivals over the course of the '24-25 campaign. The Cougars have already come to Point Grey this year, putting a damper on the 'Birds' home opener and Canada West banner raising by coming away with 2-0 and 4-3 victories in their mid-October matchup. Those represent the only two losses of the year for the T-Birds, who have won six consecutive games since.
"We're in a battle for first place in our division, it's up for grabs right now," mused UBC head coach
Graham Thomas. "I'm definitely excited and happy about how the team is coming along. I think a lot of it is just chemisty and learning how to play with each other and building certain understandings, more comfort with the system, knowing where the other players are. We've had the right kind of ideas all along, so it's about being focused enough to execute them effectively.
"We have to come ready to play hard, ready to play well, come hungry and continue to build. There are still lots of games left to be played, but these are big points, this is a big weekend."
A key factor in the T-Birds' early season success has been the dominant play of towering winger
Grace Elliott. The 6'2 power forward has always been a terrifying sight for opposing goaltenders, often planting herself in front of the crease to provide a screen and proving immovable for smaller defenders. This season however, Elliott has elevated her scoring to a stunning degree. Her six goals, nine assists, and 15 points all lead the conference. In fact, she has five more points than second place Aliya Joma of Mount Royal, which is the same as the gap between Joma and the 14
th place scorer.
"We're really seeing Grace living up to her potential right now, there are a lot more people asking about her," praised Thomas. "She has impressed us so much just on her preparation, she spent a lot of time continuing to work hard in the offseason, working on her game, working on her shot, working on the little details of her game. So I think it's a combination of preparation meeting opportunity.
"She's prepared, she put in the work, she has confidence and of course on top of that she has raw ability, size, hands and drive. She's a player who's been underrated in her time here so far, hasn't had the accolades yet even though she's always been a very solid player. She's fired up, she wants more, she always wants to get better and it's just been great to see. Proud of her and happy for her and I'd love to see her keep it going!"
The T-Birds sport the best goal differential in the conference so far at +17, but the Cougars are right behind them at +12. Mount Royal's only loss this year came in a mid-October road trip to Calgary, but they have won three consecutive games since, all without allowing more than one goal in each contest.
Last season, UBC won three of the four head-to-head matchups, with Mount Royal's lone win coming in a shootout. The Cougars' two victories at Doug Mitchell earlier this year represent half of the T-Birds' regular season home losses over the last two campaigns combined, leaving the blue and gold hungry for a bounce back.
"MRU took two points off of us to start the season, we're well aware of that," concluded Thomas. "Knowing that just makes things more intense for us, we want to win the series against them, and we'll do that by taking it one game at a time and continuing to focus on our processes and asserting our style of play."
Tickets for this weekend's game are still available
here. Stream all regular season Thunderbirds hockey action, live or on demand, on
Canada West TV.
