VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds grinded out a seesaw affair to pull past the Trinity Western Spartans
3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Father Bauer Arena.
Elise Hugens turned aside 18 shots to earn the win and improve to 2-0 on the season. Sweeping the weekend series, UBC improved to 4-0, while Trinity Western falls to 2-2 on the young Canada West campaign.
"It was a really physical series, it felt like playoffs in October," said UBC head coach,
Graham Thomas. "You got to credit their team, they never backed down and kept coming hard and aggressive. We did a good job of keeping our composure. It was good for us to push through all different types of situations and keep focused on the next play and get the job done."
Jaylyn Morris opened the scoring early in the first period with her second goal of the season to put UBC ahead in the conclusion of a home-and-home weekend tilt between the crosstown rivals.
But the Spartans were up for the challenge. Fourth-year blueliner Presleigh Giesbrecht responded in kind with a wrister of her own to help TWU convert on a five-on-three powerplay in the closing moments of the first period.
The second frame proved to be equally as physical as the first, with both teams taking minor penalties that led to chances for either squad. Spartans netminder Kate Fawcett was tested throughout the night as part of a 35 save performance, and steered aside a barrage of chances in the second, racking up save after save.
Despite Fawcett's best efforts in the second, forward
Vanessa Schaefer showed exactly why she took home Canada West All-Rookie team honours last season. The second-year UBC forward took a slick pass from
Hanna Perrier nearly seven minutes into the period and was turned aside by Fawcett, but stayed with the play to snap home her own rebound and restore UBC's lead.
The hometown crowd was treated to a thriller in the game's final 20 minutes. The Thunderbirds soared into the closing frame and went to the powerplay after a four minute roughing penalty was charged to Kasey Ditner. Previously held scoreless, UBC's special teams came through as Morris crashed the crease to bang home her second of the night.
"Morris was clutch tonight," praised Thomas. "She's got a great release and nose for the net and came through when we needed her most."
But Trinity Western would not go quietly, proving exactly why they were ranked fourth in the conference in the Canada West preseason coaches poll. With 10 minutes left to go in the game, Spartans forward Kara Yackel snuck in alone on the break and fired one past Hugens.
In the game's closing moments, Giesbrecht found herself alone in front of the net looking for her second of the night, but Hugens sprawled to glove what would have been the equalizer.
"Hugens made some huge saves for us and she has been doing that her whole career here. She works extremely hard and is such a competitor. I'm proud of her for how she played tonight."
Next up, the T-Birds will host the Alberta Pandas for a weekend series beginning Friday, October, 17th with a 7:00 p.m. puck drop in a rematch versus the Canada West champions. Friday's tilt is followed by a Saturday afternoon meeting at 3:00 p.m. Both games will be at Father David Bauer Arena.
