CALGARY – Elise Hugens made 16 saves for her fourth shutout of the season as the UBC Thunderbirds earned a 3-0 win over the Mount Royal Cougars Friday night in Calgary.

Battling the defending national champions for the first time since early November, the T-Birds (23-1-3) extended their win streak to 12 games heading into Saturday's final contest of the regular season.

Following a scoreless opening period, Rylind MacKinnon opened scoring with what stood up as the eventual game winner six minutes into the second, her tenth of the season.

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The number three ranked T-Birds put their penalty kill to the test against the conference's top power play twice in the second half of the frame, but the hosts weren't able to capitalize, failing to register a single shot on what turned out to be their final advantage of the game which carried into the third.

MacKinnon's tenth – equalling her previous single season high – stood as the only tally until Grace Elliott doubled UBC's lead at the 3:39 mark of the final period.

Desperate to get out of their deficit, Mount Royal (20-7) put goaltender Kaitlyn Ross on the bench for the extra attacker with just under two minutes remaining. But it was Canada West leading scorer Mackenzie Kordic who hit the empty net for her 14^th of the season to seal the victory.



Already with first place in the conference locked up heading into the weekend, the 'Birds can match their record-setting win total from last season with two points in Saturday's regular season finale.

Puck drop at Flames Community Arenas is set for 2:00 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed live on Canada West TV.