VANCOUVER– The UBC Thunderbirds (5-0) picked up where they left off last spring, defeating the Alberta Pandas (2-1-2) 3-0 Friday night in a rematch of last year's Catherwood Cup and U SPORTS Championship consolation final.

The victory was a silver lining for UBC head coach Graham Thomas and company, who have entered the 2025-26 campaign on a mission to reclaim the Canada West title.

Fuelling UBC's hot start is third-year blueliner, Jaylyn Morris, who found the back of the net for the third straight game to open scoring at Father Bauer Arena midway through the first period, a goal which stood up as the eventual game winner.

"We know it's always going to be a spirited battle – it feels like playoff hockey in October, which is great," said Thomas. "I thought we played really well in the first and then we kind of let up and they brought it to us and we just didn't respect our opponent enough."



"That's a great program over there and they're extremely well coached and we got to know that they're going to come ready to go."

On their lone powerplay of the first period, Morris found herself open on the wing and sniped a wrist shot into the top corner past Misty Rey, who got the start for Alberta.

After a quiet first frame that saw the Pandas manage just four shots on goal, Alberta came out firing in the second, holding UBC to just five shots while registering eight of their own. Second-year netminder Mya Lucifora stood tall, turning aside several scoring opportunities spread across three second period Alberta powerplays. 

With UBC protecting a slim lead heading into the final period, the Pandas continued to apply pressure in the game's final 20 minutes. A flurry of T-Bird penalties in the final frame gave Alberta opportunities to equalize, but Lucifora held her ground to ensure the lead was preserved despite back-to-back five-on-three powerplays for the Pandas down the stretch.



Late empty net tallies courtesy of Karine Sandilands and Mya Healey provided all the insurance that UBC would need to close out the game and secure a 3-0 shutout for Lucifora, the second of her career.

"She (Mya) was sharp tonight for sure," said Thomas. "It was an excellent performance and when we needed her big she was very calm on the double five-on-threes and wasn't jittery, did her job and kept things calm."

The long-standing rivals wrap up the weekend series Saturday with puck drop scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Father Bauer Arena. Tickets are available online and the game will be streamed live on Canada West TV.