VANCOUVER – The No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds (15-2-3) had a vastly improved effort Saturday but eventually fell 3-2 in overtime to the eighth-ranked Mount Royal Cougars (13-5-2) at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
The T-Birds showed their resilience after Friday night's loss by staking out a 2-0 lead in the first period. But a Blake Stevenson shorthanded goal late in the frame followed by a Jayden Wiens tally on the man advantage in the second erased UBC's lead as MRU completed the comeback win with a 4-on-3 power play goal late in the extra period.
"I thought we responded well individually. We were much better with the puck and our execution but we still couldn't put a string of shifts together, we couldn't wear them down in their zone, we didn't get enough zone time again," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon, after his team's third loss this season beyond 60 minutes. "When we're at our best we're wearing the other team's defencemen down and making life hard on them, we didn't get to that part of our game. And too many penalties, one in the last minute and one in overtime makes it real tough against that squad."
Following Friday night's uncharacteristic sluggish start, the T-Birds responded early Saturday afternoon when
Josh Williams scored his seventh of the season on the power play, blasting a half-clapper past Ethan Buenaventura.
Jake Wright reached double digit goals for the second straight season with his 10
th at 15:54 to expand UBC's lead.
But momentum shifted when Stevenson squeaked one past
Cole Schwebius with less than two minutes to go in the opening frame.
Wiens' second period power play goal evened the score at 2-2 at the 5:51 mark of the second at which point offence dried up for both squads who played a physical, tight-checking battle the rest of the way.
As is so often the case in playoff-type affairs like was seen Saturday, special teams played a major factor with Mount Royal earning the decided outcome going 2-for-6 on the man advantage along with Stevenson's short handed goal, the first conceded by UBC this season.
The 'Birds managed to kill off a late third period high sticking minor to get the game to overtime but a controversial goaltender interference penalty on
Ty Thorpe put the Cougars on the 4-on-3 where Justin Lies scored the game winner, deflecting a Connor Bouchard shot for his ninth of the season.
"We just needed a little bit more from everybody," Butenschon added. "If we would have been up 2-0 after the first period, maybe that changes things a little bit and they're chasing the game. Yesterday when we fell behind, when you're chasing the game on this bad ice, it's real tough."
The loss marked the first time in 2025-26 the T-Birds have lost consecutive games while the red hot Cougars have now won five in a row to keep pace with the east division leading Dinos, Calgary remaining six points ahead.
UBC's challenges to start 2026 only continue as the team heads to southern Alberta next weekend to battle the Dinos in their only two game series of the regular season, the outcome potentially having massive consequences for both teams who are in a battle with each other for first overall in the Canada West. The T-Birds are now one point behind with eight games remaining.
"That was the message in the room after, we're in one right now. That just makes next week ultra important. So, whatever we got to do this week to get ready for those games."
