VANCOUVER – Less than 24 hours after suffering their worst loss of the season, the UBC Thunderbirds showed their true mettle and bounced back with a convincing 5-2 victory over the Mount Royal Cougars Saturday afternoon at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Led by a pair of goals from
Cyle McNabb including a key shorthanded tally early in the second period, the T-Birds (13-6-1) staked out a 4-1 lead in the final 20 minutes before fending off a Mount Royal (15-5) comeback attempt that fell short of the mark, splitting the weekend set and the season series between the two Canada West contenders.
"Nobody was happy with our performance (Friday) and it was such a big challenge, just an opportunity to pick yourself up off the mat," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon, following his team's impressive response. "Sometimes in life you're going to get smacked around a bit and that happens, it's just how do you respond. I'm so proud of the guys for how they responded."
That response began right from the opening faceoff and a first period in which the 'Birds held the edge in play from all aspects.
Veteran winger
Jack Wismer opened scoring at the 13:46 mark with his fifth of the season, slamming home a rebound on the power play.
McNabb's first of two in the contest came 5:39 into the second, doubling UBC's lead with his fifth career shorthanded goal, tying himself with captain
Chris Douglas for the all-time program record.
Clay Hanus responded for the Cougars, cutting the T-Birds' lead in half with his 11
th, MRU's first of two power play goals in the game.
But less than three minutes later, Douglas restored the two-goal advantage with his eighth of the season, just as a UBC power play expired at 14:10. The captain snuck down low and re-directed a Wismer pass into a wide-open cage, MRU goaltender Shane Farkas unable to get across in time.
McNabb's second of the game – and fourth of the season – was just as pretty as his earlier shorthanded marker, the fourth-year T-Bird sniping from a sharp angle, far-side past Farkas for the Winnipeg native's 30
th goal in the blue and gold.
Ty Thorpe worked hard along the boards to protect the puck before dishing out to McNabb who gave UBC their biggest lead of the game to that point.
Connor Bouchard got the Cougars back within two on the power play at 12:12 with his fifth of the season. UBC managed to kill off a brief two-man MRU advantage, but with the visitors still on the power play, Bouchard wristed the puck through traffic to go top corner.
Tian Rask found the empty net with just over two minutes remaining, his sixth of the campaign sealing the victory for UBC's first win of the New Year.
Brett Mirwald made 18 saves to collect his fifth win of the season. While the former Vancouver Giant wasn't overly busy through 40 minutes, he was solid and in command of his crease, coming up big when needed especially against MRU's third period charge.
"I felt really confident with him back there, he didn't make that many saves but when he did he was dialled, his angles were great, he was calm," said Butenschon of his rookie tender. "He moved the puck and started some great breakouts back there playing the puck. He's had a bit of a tough year so it was really nice to see him get a win against a top team."
That win keeps UBC in the hunt for first in the West Division, once again three points behind MRU with eight games remaining.
"We still got to go to Calgary so you're just trying to gobble up points, grow your game. Especially since the break I thought there's still another level, the skill stuff, there's still more there. But because we were so relentless and worked hard and adjusted and did those little things, that's how we won the game tonight and then as the second half is going to roll on, our skill is going to start to take over."
The T-Birds will now gear up for their final home-and-home series of the season with the Trinity Western Spartans starting next Friday night, January 17, at home for the 2025 Winter Classic.
Tickets for the biggest campus event on ice are on sale now with puck drop set for 7:30 p.m. at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
