VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds answered back with a 3-1 game two win over the MacEwan Griffins Saturday night, forcing their Canada West quarter-final series to a third and deciding game Sunday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

A night after never holding the lead, the 'Birds got timely goals and another outstanding performance in goal by Cole Schwebius along with strong defensive zone play in what was an all around strong effort to keep their season alive.

"Tonight we found a way. It wasn't easy, they're playing so good defensively and away from the puck and they're making us earn everything out there," said UBC head coach, Sven Butenschon, of the grittiness the Griffins continue to bring. "It's definitely a test of your mental fortitude and the guys just stuck with it. There were some moments there where it started to feel a little bit loose, too loose for a playoff type game for me, and then we kind of corrected it. Moving forward we got to find a way to just avoid those little blurps in the game and just play a full 60 minute effort here."



Game one saw the T-Birds own the puck in the opening period but the opposite was mostly true to start game two, at least for the opening minutes of the first with the Griffins testing Schwebius early and often.

As the frame wore on, the 'Birds built up some steam and capitalized on the power play to open scoring with Jack Wismer's first of the playoffs at the 14:25 mark. The fourth-year forward took a centring feed from Chris Douglas that bounced off a MacEwan stick in front and buried five-hole past Brett Epp.

The 'Birds doubled their lead midway through the second on a Jake Wright deflection in the slot. UBC's regular season goal scoring leader picked up his first of the playoffs, redirecting a Jonny Lambos feed from the point.
 

?? MHKY | Jake Wright with the deflection doubles the T-Birds' lead as it's now 2-0 UBC heading into the third period of game 2 in the @CanadaWest quarter-final! #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/XsggZWpGTn

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) February 23, 2025

MacEwan got some much needed life 3:57 into the third when Caden Cabana scored his third of the series, on the power play. Parked in front of the crease, Cabana took a pass from Loeden Schaufler and was able to move it to his forehand, jamming it past Schwebius to cut UBC's lead in half.

Chances for either team were at a premium the rest of the way with both sides managing just five shots on goal.

With Epp on the bench for the extra attacker, Alex Serraglio hit the empty net, dead centre, from just inside his own blue line, sealing the victory for UBC and ensuring both teams would be back for do-or-die Sunday night.

With chances at a premium in a classic playoff defensive battle, the T-Birds more than held up their end of the bargain Saturday.



"Defence is an attitude. You got to really dig in and work and battle and compete, there's not much skill involved, it's just willingness to play on the right side of situations and not leave too quick or be on the wrong side or cheat for offence," said Butenschon. "It's just an attitude and a buy-in and tonight we had it and that was the difference."

Schwebius made 18 saves to pick up his first win of the post-season and sixth of his Thunderbirds career.

For the fourth straight playoff series dating back to the 2023 Canada west semifinal, the T-Birds face a game three winner take all scenario. It's a situation that worked out exceptionally well for the squad in 2024 as the veteran group has now won five straight conference elimination games.



"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, we expect a lot from each other in that room. Nobody wants to let anybody down, we want to keep playing, we want to just stay alive and play another day and we don't want this to end."

"Back-to-back nights is hard in our league and this level, it's so physical out there, it's so intense. So I think it's pretty demanding on both teams right now. I'm hoping tomorrow it's really going to pay off for us though."

With a berth in next weekend's Canada West semifinal against the Saskatchewan Huskies on the line, the T-Birds and Griffins will battle it out one final time Sunday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. with tickets available online. The game will also be streamed live on Canada West TV.