VANCOUVER – Championship secured, the UBC Thunderbirds once again sit atop the Canada West conference following the team's fourth conference title in the past five seasons, defeating the Manitoba Bisons
1-0 in game two Saturday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
"This group is going to go down in history," said UBC head coach
Graham Thomas after reclaiming the conference crown. "It's amazing – just their composure, their confidence, their dig-in ability and their toughness. Especially this senior group, they've made it to the finals five years in a row. And We're not done yet. Nine more periods of hockey to go, but we're going to enjoy this one, especially for these seniors on home ice for the last time."
It took everything UBC had to emerge victorious with its seventh conference title in program history. Within the opening minutes of the first period, it was clear that neither team was willing to give any open ice in an effort to avoid surrendering the game's crucial opening goal.
Both squads traded chances as Sadie Keller found herself alone in front off a centring feed from Norah Collins, but missed the open cage just over the outstretched glove of
Elise Hugens. At the other end, it was
Cassidy Rhodes who won a footrace to earn a point-blank opportunity alone on goal, but Emily Shippam turned aside the snapshot to keep things scoreless heading into the second.
Searching for the game's first goal, UBC was hungry for any opportunity around Shippam, who was stellar between the pipes for the Bisons. The fourth-year netminder from Winnipeg put forward a tremendous performance, and even with UBC on the powerplay twice during the second frame, the top ranked unit in Canada West was unable to convert.
But Saturday night's Canada West clinching game was destined to find a hero. Enter
Cassidy Rhodes. After an aggressive forecheck,
Karine Sandilands walked off the boards and found Rhodes alone in front as she slid the puck between the legs of Shippam, who was unable to recover in time.
"That's a 'will it' goal for Sandilands and Rhodes," said Thomas. "Just lunch pail, blue collar, get in there and grind it out and take the puck to the net and push it across the goal line with whatever you got. It doesn't matter if it's your fingernail, and that's the kind of player both of those players are."
Holding onto a tight 1-0 lead entering the third period, the hometown crowd held its collective breath with UBC just 20 minutes away from sweeping the championship series.
Manitoba turned up the intensity and was physical on its forecheck throughout the third, muscling for the puck at every turn and forcing dangerous turnovers in the UBC zone. Despite a barrage of opportunities, the T-Birds' championship aspirations were preserved by Hugens, who was steady in the final 20 minutes to shut the door on the Bisons.
"The thing I love about her is she's been underrated her whole career," said Thomas of Hugens who was named Championship MVP. "She's had some of the best stats, broken Canada West records, set UBC records and has four gold medals and one silver. She's been getting stronger and using it to be mentally tougher to continue driving herself. I am so proud of her and she's a rock."
The T-Birds now set their sights on the 2026 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship, hosted by the University of Waterloo, March 19-22 with UBC seeking their first banner in program history.
