LANGLEY, B.C. – Finishing off the home-and-away series, the UBC Thunderbirds (6-1-0) split the weekend after falling 4-1 to the Trinity Western University Spartans (2-4-0) at The Arenas at LEC on Saturday afternoon.
Despite being outshot for a majority of the contest, the Spartans collected four unanswered goals through two periods. While between the pipes, Grace Deveau stood as tall as can be for TWU, stopping 48 of 49 shots faced on the night to lead her squad to victory.
For UBC, fourth-year defender and team captain
Jaylyn Morris secured the lone goal for the 'Birds, marking her second on the young season.
The Spartans kicked this one off by bookending the opening frame with a pair of tallies. Nearly three minutes in, Sadie Isfeld fed Kyra Anderson on the power play, who found the back of the net for the game's first goal. They then closed out the period with another score from Keelyn Pisani to head into the first intermission with a two-goal lead.
TWU added on midway through the second as Pisani carried the puck up the left side of the ice on the rush, entered the zone and drifted towards the top of the circle before rifling one. Labelled for the top shelf, UBC netminder
Mya Lucifora got a piece with her glove but it wasn't enough to keep it out of the net, handing the forward her second of the night.
The Spartans didn't need to wait long for their next strike. Just under three minutes later, Kamryn Reiber skated toward the left faceoff dot and ripped a shot that found twine for her side's fourth goal of the game.
In the opening five minutes of the third period, UBC had their fifth chance on the power play, and it looked like they finally had their breakthrough.
Hanna Perrier collected the puck inside the blueline and deked her way toward goal before throwing a backhand on net. The puck bounced in the crease, where
Hannah Dods was waiting to seemingly jam home her side's first score of the game. However, the goal was disallowed after review, leaving the T-Birds searching for their first notch on the scoreboard with 15 minutes to go.
They wouldn't have to wait much longer as they earned their sixth extra-attacker chance shortly thereafter. Morris held the puck at the blueline before letting off a wrister through heavy traffic, beating the keeper to get the blue and gold on the scoresheet.
From there, the 'Birds continued to apply pressure but couldn't solve the Spartans' second-year netminder, ending the game with a 4-1 loss.
UBC will now head to Saskatoon, where they will take on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies for another two-game set. Puck drop for the weekend opener is set for Friday, October 30, at Merlis Belsher Place.
