VANCOUVER— In a hard-fought game that needed a shootout, the UBC Thunderbirds (10-2) extended their win-streak to eight-straight games in a 3-2 win over the visiting Mount Royal Cougars (7-3). Grace Elliott saw her six-game point-streak snapped on Saturday, but the fourth-year T-Bird scored the lone shootout goal to help her team secure a big win, and earn the weekend sweep over the Cougars.

Mount Royal struck first for the second-straight game as Jori Hansen-Young fired a slapshot labelled for the top-shelf past an unsuspecting Elise Hugens (17 saves). However, the Cougars took four first-period penalties, and UBC eventually took advantage. The T-Birds tied the game on a 5-on-3 powerplay with an Ashton Thorpe shot pinballing past Kaitlyn Ross (26 saves), just before the end of the opening period.

The powerplay goal was just the second that Mount Royal's penalty kill has allowed this season, with UBC notching the latter strike in a 4-3 loss to the Cougars on October 12^th. Mount Royal had killed 25-straight powerplays before Thorpe's goal.



"They block shots really well, they collapse but are also aggressive at the right times, they're patient, but then on the outsides they pressure hard, (and) they have a great goalie." said UBC head coach Graham Thomas of the Cougars' penalty kill.

UBC finished the contest 1-for-8 on the powerplay, while the T-Birds penalty kill held the Cougars off the scoresheet on their four powerplay chances.

After scoring the game-winner in Friday's contest, Vanessa Schaefer tallied her second goal in as many games. The rookie T-Bird outskated two Cougar defenders before driving to the net on a great individual effort that resulted in her fourth goal of the season, putting UBC ahead 2-1 in the second-period.

"(Schaefer's) getting in the right areas, the right scoring areas, and taking pucks to the net." Added Thomas, "Not a lot of our girls do that, and I think if we did that more, we'd be creating more, so it takes courage, talent and skating ability"



Just over three-minutes after the T-Birds took the lead, Mount Royal had an answer. Lyvia Butz pounced on a loose puck during a scramble in front of Elise Hugens, potting her second goal of the season, and pulling her team even at 2-2.

In what's become a heated division rivalry, neither team managed to score a goal in the third-period, or 3-on-3 overtime, forcing a shootout.

Grace Elliott tucked a neat five-hole marker past Ross, scoring the lone-shootout goal. Elise Hugens shut the door, turning aside all three Cougar shootout attempts, and securing the UBC win. 



 The T-Birds pair of wins evens the head-to-head record versus the Cougars at 2-2. UBC holds a five-point lead on the Cougars for first-place in the West division standings. However, Mount Royal earned a point in the game, and still have two games in-hand on UBC.

The T-Birds face-off against the University of Calgary Dinos (5-3-2) in Calgary next weekend, their last weekend series before a well-earned bye week.

 "More important than all of the standings and fighting for (first place), which is important, it's (more) important that we're playing better hockey, that we're playing better as a team, with better chemistry" Thomas concluded.

Mount Royal will host the University of Manitoba Bisons (5-2-1) in their upcoming weekend series.