VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds are one win away from clinching their fourth consecutive Canada West Final appearance with a 4-0 win over the visiting Manitoba Bisons in game one of their semifinal series at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre Friday night.
UBC's three goal second period proved to be the difference, as offensive weapons
Annalise Wong,
Mackenzie Kordic, and
Chanreet Bassi each tallied a goal in the middle frame.
T-Birds goalie,
Elise Hugens, was stellar turning aside all 17 shots she faced to earn her sixth career post-season shutout.
"They left an imprint on the game and that's what you need from your leaders and your seniors," said UBC head coach
Graham Thomas said of his leadership group. "I think in their mind and they've matured and they've been through so many of these games and I think they can settle in and just kind of go play the game and help execute where they can."
After earning a bye to the semifinals, the T-Birds had to match the energy of a hungry Bisons team, who were fresh off of a game three win over the Trinity Western Spartans in the quarter-finals.
The teams traded chances in a scoreless first-period. However, fourth-year T-Bird
Annalise Wong drew a body checking penalty late in the opening frame, and would personally make her opponents pay on the ensuing power play.
The Richmond, B.C. product set the tone for the T-Birds, notching her first goal of the playoffs just 18 seconds into the second. Wong picked her spot, scoring low-blocker on Bisons goalie Emily Shippam who finished the game with 14 saves.
The power play marker was the lone special teams strike as UBC finished 1-for-3 on the advantage, while the Bisons were unable to convert on four opportunities.
T-Bird seniors Kordic and Bassi each tallied highlight-reel snipes to extend the UBC lead to 3-0 after 40 minutes of play.
"Overall, we were really happy with the first period, we thought that it was a very even match, we were able to kind of slow them down the ways that we wanted to," said Manitoba head coach, Jordyn Zacharias. "[UBC] kind of set that pace right off the bat in the second, but I liked how we responded after that third goal, it could have really gotten away from us."
The Bisons did not relent in the third period, outshooting UBC 8-5 in the final frame. However, Hugens made key saves to keep her team's lead intact, earning the shutout in the process.
Karine Sandilands extended UBC's lead to 4-0, tipping home a
Sophia Gaskell point-shot in the third period, and ending any Bisons hope of a comeback.
Manitoba hopes they can replicate their quarter-finals performance from last weekend: losing game one vs. Trinity Western, but winning games two and three to advance to the semis. However, they face a red-hot UBC team that has now won 15 straight games, and is determined to capture their fourth-straight Canada West championship.
Puck drop for game two of the Canada West Semifinals is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Tickets are available online and the game will also be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
