VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds now face their first elimination game of the playoffs after the Alberta Pandas earned a 1-0 victory over the UBC Thunderbirds in game one of the conference final series Thursday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
A goaltending duel between two of the top netminders in the country forced a scoreless game beyond 60 minutes in a contest that had every indication of turning into a long night. But just 2:40 into the first overtime period, Abby Soyko, who scored twice in Alberta's semifinal clinching win just four days ago, got the puck past a screened
Elise Hugens.
"I don't know if we're a more skilled team but I know we're a team that believes and works hard for each other and that's starting to build some resilience as a result of similar situations throughout the course of the year," said Alberta head coach, Howie Draper, after a game in which his team appeared sluggish early but gained momentum as things wore on. "Adversity's kind of what we've experienced all year."
UBC held a wide margin in puck possession and scoring chances throughout the game, but just couldn't manage to get one past Canada West Goaltender of the Year, Grace Glover, who finished the night with 33 saves for her second shutout of the playoffs.
The lone goal of the game came off a set faceoff play in UBC's zone. Jadynn Morden won the draw back to the point to Brooklyn Tews who left for Soyko. The third-year forward then cut to the middle, and while a screen developed in front, unleashed a wrister for her third of the playoffs.
"I think in the first we did generate enough opportunities but we knew it was going to be a series," said UBC head coach
Graham Thomas, after his team snapped what had been a 16 game win streak dating back to November. "They're a great team, well-coached and we knew it was going to be a battle. We've got another day tomorrow, we just have to come ready to fight even harder. We had some good looks, some good chances, lots of shots in the first and we got to just be able to execute and capitalize on those chances. We had to get into the tough areas, get into the house more. A lot of our shots were generated from the outside so we'll review that and have a good plan going into tomorrow."
The three-time defending conference champion T-Birds outshot the Pandas by a 33-19 margin overall, 13-2 in the opening period alone. But a squad that scored 28 power play goals in the regular season had just one opportunity Thursday, as did the Pandas, in what was a low event contest in all respects.
The T-Birds now face their first elimination game of the post-season heading into game two of the Canada West Final while the Pandas are one win away from clinching their first conference title since 2020.
"It's a game of inches at this point in the season," Thomas added. "We just got to know to read those situations and continue to play defensively solid and strong for 60 minutes."
Puck drop for game two is set for Friday night at 7:00 p.m. PT at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Tickets are available online and the game will be streamed live on
Canada West TV.