VANCOUVER –
Joelle Fiala scored in triple overtime over the Alberta Pandas, giving UBC a 4-3 victory in game one of the best-of-three Canada West final series at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre Friday afternoon. The win brings UBC within one game of their third straight Canada West banner.
"Obviously we can't get ahead of ourselves but that was a massive win," said UBC head coach
Graham Thomas. "This group has never been tested like that before: to the limits in the Canada West final with a fantastic team over there pushing us to overtime. We stayed strong, we stayed together, and we stuck to the plan. And it's so fitting that
Joelle Fiala and
Rylind MacKinnon were both in on the game-winning goal and are both seniors."
The T-Birds held the edge with shots on goal by a 56-25 margin through 60 minutes plus three periods of overtime. Friday's game was the longest UBC women's hockey game since the T-Birds beat Manitoba 2-1 at the 45:55 mark of overtime on February 16, 2021.
Twenty-seven seconds into the opening frame, Alberta's Payton Laumbach stole the puck and laid it off to Izzy Lajoie, who went coast to coast for a shot. Elsie Hugens made the save, but Natalie Kieser was ready to send the puck in off the rebound for a 1-0 Pandas lead.
Motivated by the early game deficit, the 'Birds brought the pace and matched the Pandas with each shot on goal. The pressure paid off near the end of the frame after Pandas goalie Halle Oswald stopped a long-range
Sophia Gaskell slap shot to set up a faceoff in the end zone circle. After winning the faceoff,
Joelle Fiala flicked the puck back to
Grace Elliott at the top of the circle, who sent it flying into the back of the net to equalize at 1-1 before the end of the frame.
The 'Birds carried the energy into the second period, generating a threatening but unsuccessful scoring chance right off the puck drop. Seconds after the end of a two-minute power play, Gaskell scored a slap shot from near the blue line to double UBC's lead at the 6:07 minute mark. The Pandas answered ten minutes later with a Brooklyn Tews goal on the power play, her first of the postseason.
The third period saw the Pandas add another tally to the board when Madison Willan tipped in a Cassidy Maplethorpe pass. Not ready to accept defeat, the 'Birds threatened with 16 shots in the period. With just four minutes to go, a scramble in the crease left
Annalise Wong with the puck. Seeing an opening, Wong fired it in off the post to push the game into overtime.
The 'Birds and Pandas played two periods of overtime before fifth-year forward Fiala ended the game with a stunning individual effort just over two minutes into the third OT period. The T-Bird senior stole the puck in the attacking zone and carried it to the top of the circle before sending it past two defensemen and the goaltender for the win.
"Their season is on the line, so they are going to come out and push us hard," added Thomas when asked about Saturday's game. "They're not going to go away or give up easy. We have to make sure that we are absolutely bringing our A-game tomorrow and coming ready to match that intensity and hunger. We've got to be ready to close them out."
The two teams face off again at 3:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday for game two of the best-of-three Canada West final series. Game three is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday if necessary.
Tickets are available online and the series will be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
