VANCOUVER – It was a tight contest on Saturday afternoon at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, but UBC fell victim to a furious third-period push from the Mount Royal Cougars, who scored two unanswered goals to escape Vancouver with a 2-1 victory and a split of the weekend series.
"Our second game every weekend needs to be much better," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas. "They just wanted it more than us and played a good, structured system and we were playing selfish, not as a team and not to our standard of how we can play."
It took more than 31 minutes to get the game's first goal in yesterday's series opener, but UBC wasted no time in the rematch to strike first thanks to Jaylyn Morris, who capitalized on too much time and space on the powerplay by wiring a wrist shot past Scout Anderson to give the T-Birds the early lead. UBC would commit a few penalties of its own in the opening period, but Lucifora denied any opportunities for the Cougars to tie the game.
Despite the Thunderbirds' early momentum, offensive chances throughout the second period were thwarted by both netminders. Whether it was Lucifora stopping Kiana McNinch on a partial breakaway or Scout Anderson turning aside a flurry of chances in tight on UBC's lone powerplay of the frame, it seemed like no team would be able to solve either netminder with the game still up for grabs at 1-0 entering the third period.
But Mount Royal would not go quietly, showing exactly why they were ranked number one in the preseason Canada West coaches poll. Just 90 seconds into the third, McNinch followed up her own rebound and swiftly swept a wraparound past Lucifora, who could not recover in time. With the game even and the Cougars threatening, UBC still had its chance to inch back ahead, but Anderson provided one game-saving stop after another, even with the Thunderbirds afforded two powerplays in the last 10 minutes of the game.
Disaster struck for UBC with less than five minutes left in the third when a loose puck in the slot ended up on the stick of the Cougars' top scorer this season, McNinch, who wasted no time snapping home her fifth goal of the year to give Mount Royal the late cushion needed to close out the weekend with a narrow win.
"[Lucifora] is a bright spot for sure. She's always kicking back there for us, and I'm just really frustrated letting her down and not playing good defence because all those goals are pretty defendable," Thomas said.
The T-Birds hit the road following tonight's loss for their first matchup of the year against Alberta this Friday, November 13th, in Edmonton. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT and fans can stream the game on CanadaWest.tv.
"We're going to have to show up and respond this weekend; put in a good effort and go after U of A and turn the page. We've got to learn from this and get better," Thomas said.
