ELMIRA, Ont. – The mission for the UBC Thunderbirds Sunday morning was simple – win the last game together as a group. Not only did they do so to clinch a fifth place finish at the 2026 U SPORTS National Championship, they dominated to the tune of a 7-2 final over the host Waterloo Warriors at the Woolwich Memorial Centre.
The Warriors opened scoring just 66 seconds into the game, but it was nearly all Thunderbirds from that point forward, Ilona Markova scoring twice and adding a pair of assists en route to her Player of the Game selection.
It was a fitting tribute to UBC's 12 graduating seniors to end an otherwise disappointing weekend as the T-Birds won the consolation side of the bracket for the third straight year.
Already up 4-1 by the end of the second period after Vanessa Schaefer scored late in the frame, the T-Birds got a massive emotional boost from captain Annalise Wong who hurried to the rink to join her teammates for the final period of her UBC career. The fifth-year forward was forced to miss the first two frames due to a medical school interview which was not able to be rescheduled. In true captain form, Wong took the call from a hotel room already dressed, only needing to strap on her skates as soon as she got to the arena.
Waterloo managed to cut into UBC's lead early in the third when Keiara Raitt scored shorthanded, only to have the T-Birds restore their three-goal lead on the power play with Markova's second of the game, a low one-timer going five-hole at 8:37.
For good measure, the number one ranked T-Birds scored twice more within a 36 second span to put the exclamation mark on the team's final contest of the season. Presley Zinger had plenty of time to score her first U SPORTS National Championship goal after a cross-ice feed from Markova at 15:18. Fleming scored her second of the tournament shortly after, hammering a loose puck low in the slot.
UBC outshot the Warriors 40-19, but it took 18 tries to finally get one past Waterloo goaltender Kara Mark with Olivia Buckley swatting in a Markova rebound to tie the game 1-1 early in the second period.
It had been a perfect start for the hosts as UBC went to the penalty kill just 40 seconds after puck drop. Less than 30 seconds into the power play, Carly Orth found a streaking Nikki Mcdonald on the right wing who outwaited Elise Hugens and backhanded the puck up past UBC's sprawling netminder.
Just moments after finding the equalizer, the 'Birds found themselves on the kill once again where Hugens made a pair of incredible stops in succession to keep the game locked at ones. The fifth-year made 17 saves by the final buzzer to collect the win in her final U SPORTS game.
Jaylyn Morris gave UBC their first lead of the morning scoring her second of the tournament at the 8:38 mark of the second. The first team All-Canadian took a centring feed, deftly moved around a Warriors defender and released a high wrist shot from the slot.
Markova picked up her second point of the game and second goal of the tournament to give the 'Birds a 3-1 lead at 11:15, going post-and-in, far side past Mark.
Schaefer capped off the four goal period with just over two minutes left. The Olympic bronze medallist cut to the middle and fired her first of the weekend as the T-Birds had firm control of the game still with more than 20 minutes to play.
It was an emotional final battle in the blue and gold for the program's largest graduating class, many of which competed in five national championship tournaments together.
The T-Birds will look a whole lot different come September, but the mark those 12 have made will undoubtedly linger for many years to come.
