REGINA, Sask. – The UBC Thunderbirds (7-0) showed no sign of rust coming out of their bye week with a dominant 4-0 win over the Regina Cougars (3-2-2) Friday night at the Co-Operators Centre.
Outshooting the Cougars 59-16, the T-Birds scored three times in the final period while
Elise Hugens picked up her fourth win and second shutout of the season, now in a tie for second in career Canada West victories with 62.
"We challenged the group about getting more pucks to the net this week in practice and they responded," said UBC head coach,
Graham Thomas. "We still have some areas of our game we need to work on and be more consistent with, but I'm happy with the response."
Despite pommeling Regina netminder Natalie Williamson with 24 shots in the opening period alone, the game remained scoreless heading to the second.
Audrey Church finally broke through midway through the second with her first as a Thunderbird for what stood up as the game winner.
Ashton Thorpe's first of the season five minutes into the third doubled UBC's lead.
Grace Elliott's team-leading fifth of the season came shorthanded with less than five minutes on the clock to erase any real doubt of the eventual outcome while
Mya Healey hit the empty net to seal the deal with just over two minutes remaining.
Hugen's shutout was the 23
rd of her Canada West career as the fifth-year is now alone in second on the all-time conference list, eight behind former Panda Lindsey Post.
The solid team effort will need to be repeated again Saturday if the 'Birds intend to keep their season-long win streak intact before heading home to host the Manitoba Bisons next weekend.
"We need to get rested and be ready to bring our best tomorrow against a strong Regina group," Thomas added.
Puck drop Saturday for the final regular season meeting between the T-Birds and Cougars is set for 4:00 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
