After an incredibly road-heavy start to the season, where they played five of their first six games outside of Vancouver, the No. 1 nationally-ranked UBC Thunderbirds are back at home to take on the No. 6 Mount Royal Cougars in a two-game set.
The action gets underway inside the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, November 6, before a rematch at 2:00 p.m. the next day (all times PT).
The Cougars will be coming into this weekend with plenty of confidence, sporting a perfect 6-0 record that has left them as the only undefeated team in the entire country. All of their victories have been in regulation, with a +10 goal differential on the year.
"You see Mount Royal shot up to No. 6 in the country this week, which is where they should be," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas. "They're a great team, a veteran team, they're well-coached…it'll be a big test for our group. We had great battles with them last year, great games with them always, and it's too bad we only see them twice the entire regular season."
Forwards Julia Duke and Lyvia Butz lead the Cougars in scoring with six points each, while fourth-year netminder Katherine Holan ranks first in the conference in goals against average (0.67) and second in save percentage (.957) amongst goalies with more than one appearance.
On the side of the T-Birds, Hanna Perrier leads Canada West in both assists (seven) and points (nine), and already has three multi-point performances less than a month into the season. Rookie defenceman Leila Sinclair is fresh off a Canada West Player of the Week nod following a phenomenal weekend in Saskatoon where she became the first T-Birds' blueliner in three years to record a hat trick, and scored the winning goal in both games.
"Sinclair is going to be a special player in this league," said Thomas about the Markham, Ontario native. "She's smart, she's got a great shot, great release, and is a really mature student-athlete. We see the potential in her, so we're pushing her every day to learn the habits and everything, but when you look at the raw talent and the smarts, she plays the game the right way.
"It's exciting, and it's not just her but all of our freshmen are contributing in their own ways and finding their stride. It's looking good for our future for sure."
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The youth movement has been in full swing for the T-Birds, who boast a 5-1 record despite losing 12 players to graduation from last year's team and bringing in an equally-large class of first-year athletes.Â
But despite the successes when it comes to the win column so far this season, Thomas and his group certainly don't want to rest on their laurels in any way.
"If you were in here in the day-to-day, at practices and in the locker room, you would not think that we're 5-1 and one of the top teams in Canada West and in U SPORTS," remarked Thomas. "We're still trying to get everyone on the same page and get to a certain standard. When you take a step back, with five of the six on the road, the big roster turnaround, injuries and all that, you can see the positives and things to be excited about, but right now everybody knows that they can be better and that we've got to do more and be sharper and more focused.
"It's a good spot to be in for sure, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about where our team is at right now. It's probably better than what we'd anticipated, but at the same time we're not satisfied and we're continuing to push this group because there's so much potential there."
This weekend's battles with MRU will certainly provide a good litmus test for the young T-Birds, with the Cougars having 11 players in either their fourth or fifth year of eligibility on their roster, compared to just five for UBC.
To see the Thunderbirds' exciting young talent in action, get tickets
HERE. The games are also streamed live and on-demand on
Canada West TV.
