WINNIPEG – In a rematch of last year's Canada West final, the top-ranked UBC Thunderbirds opened the new season with a 3-1 win over the University of Manitoba Bisons at Wayne Fleming Arena on Friday night.
In a duel between the conference's top two scoring teams last season, goals were hard to come by throughout the first 40 minutes. That changed in the third when first-year forward
Maggie Rauckman found the back of the net twice in her U SPORTS debut to seal the win for the T-Birds.
Both teams came out flying from puck drop, with each looking to gain an early edge. The 'Birds didn't have to wait long before finding their breakthrough as a collision near the blue sent a Bison to the box in the opening five minutes. Ilana Markova, who zipped around the ice like a firecracker throughout the contest, found the puck on her stick in the slot immediately after a faceoff. Alone in tight, she eyed the net before sliding it five-hole for the opening goal.
Despite the early tally, the Bisons were not deterred. As the period wore on, the home side's attack grew increasingly dangerous, and they were rewarded in the latter half of the frame. With space at the top of the slot, second-year forward Shayna Bannister received a pass and swiftly rifled home a wrister to earn a 1-1 split heading into the first intermission.
The Bisons carried that momentum into the start of the second period as they went on to outshoot the 'Birds 6-1 in the opening 10 minutes. UBC managed to settle things down defensively as the clock ticked away, but neither side gave an inch, leading to a scoreless second stanza.
Just as it seemed the match had all the makings of a game that needed more than 60 minutes to decide a winner, the T-Birds found twine early in the third. After a dump-in and a hard forecheck, UBC regained possession down low. Following some crisp puck movement in the zone,
Barunka Sibertova had a window to shoot, but a Bisons' stick got in the way, turning a hard shot into a knuckler that was difficult to corral. The puck bounced around before landing in front of Rauckman just outside the crease, where she tucked home her first career goal to put the blue and gold back in front.
Yet, Rauckman wasn't done there. After weathering two more Bison power plays, the 'Birds returned to the attack. The Saskatoon-native battled for possession in front before firing a shot from the slot off a bouncing puck and into the top right corner of the cage, handing UBC a two-goal cushion with less than eight minutes remaining.
Manitoba pushed hard for a response, and even came – quite literally – inches away from another pair of tallies in the final minutes. One shot slipped through the pads of the T-Bird netminder before a UBC defender swept it off the line. Shortly after, another Bisons shot careened in from the point and ricocheted off the crossbar, but that was as close as they would come as the T-Birds held on for the 3-1 win.
The two powerhouse squads will return to the ice tomorrow for the second game of the weekend's doubleheader at Wayne Fleming Arena. You can watch along on
CanadaWest.tv, with puck drop set for 11:00 p.m. PT.
