VANCOUVER – Friday night's tilt between the UBC Thunderbirds (25-2) and Alberta Pandas (10-8-7) proved yet again why both programs are two of the hungriest in the Canada West as both teams battled for every inch of ice, but ultimately it would be the host blue and gold earning a hard-fought 3-0 victory.
The shutout was
Elise Hugens' sixth of the season and 12th combined for UBC this campaign, setting a new program record, Hugens and
Mya Lucifora both with six shutouts on the year.
"For the last five seasons she (Hugens) has played a lot of games, she has set a lot of program records, a lot of individual records and has earned a lot of team wins and championships," said UBC head coach,
Graham Thomas. "Watching Mya come underneath her and develop and grow and push her, too, it has just been such a great tandem this year and it has been iron sharpening iron."
Friday kicked off an action-packed weekend in celebration of UBC's graduating class as 12 UBC skaters were set to don the blue and gold for the final regular season contests of their U SPORTS careers.
Hugens was her usual steady self in the first period, thwarting three Alberta powerplay chances in the frame. Not to be outdone was Mackenzie Dojahn, who kept the game knotted at zero thanks to a stellar save off a rebound that saw
Annalise Wong try to snap the puck into the open cage, only for Dojahn to slide post-to-post in desperation to keep the game even.
"We felt like Alberta came out – and full credit to them – they came out flying and were really physical," Thomas said. "That woke us up and we needed team toughness as a group, so our leaders upped the physical game and fought for each other."
It was only fitting on senior night that the game's crucial first tally came off the stick of Carman, a steady blueliner who has helped quarterback UBC's defence for the past two seasons. Midway through the second frame, the Nova Scotian collected the puck in her own end and made two dazzling moves in the neutral zone before rifling a wrist shot under the armpit of Dojahn to break the gridlock.
"For her, on her senior night, to have that moment and such an amazing goal was special. All of our seniors came to play tonight and battled extremely hard to help us get the win."
Carman's first goal of the season sent the crowd into a frenzy and it would be all UBC the rest of the second period as Canada West's top ranked powerplay went to work.
Mia Bierd parked in front of Dojahn and provided the perfect screen for
Ilona Markova to sneak a wrister that deflected into the net to extend the T-Birds' lead to 2-0 entering the third.
UBC continued its momentum in the final frame to keep Alberta on its heels.
Jacquelyn Fleming darted off the wing and found a trailing Bierd who wired home the insurance marker to seal the victory for UBC.
Hugens turned aside 17 shots from the Pandas to improve to a perfect 15-0 on the season.
The game began with a pre-game senior night presentation that honoured the contributions to the UBC women's hockey program courtesy of Carman, Hugens,
Ashton Thorpe,
Karine Sandilands,
Sophia Gaskell and
Olivia Buckley.
Both teams hit the ice Saturday afternoon for a rematch at Father Bauer Arena. The remaining six members of UBC's graduating class of twelve skaters will also be commemorated: Bierd,
Madisyn Wiebe,
Mya Healey,
Kailee Peppler,
Grace Elliott and
Annalise Wong.
"It's awesome to see our seniors come together and take over a game. As a coach you get to see the maturity and the execution and you can't ask for anything more. These seniors have grown on and off the ice and it is so rewarding to see how much they have developed, beyond the championships and more so as leaders that are leaving a legacy."
Tomorrow's puck drop is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. and
tickets are available online or at the door. The game will also be available to stream on
Canada West TV.
