After a shaky game-one loss in the Canada West Finals on Friday night, the Thunderbirds women’s hockey team pulled their game together to win their second straight championship. The visiting Mount Royal University Cougars put their best forward, but stellar goaltending from Kaitlyn Ross couldn’t make up for her defence’s fallibility.
Fresh off a satisfying defensive semifinals series with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, UBC head coach Graham Thomas reflected after the game one loss to MRU that his team was gripping their sticks too hard. After a dominant regular season that saw the team finish first in the conference by a significant margin, expectations were high.
“We [didn’t] bury our chances,” said Thomas in an interview with UBC Athletics. “We have to focus on the execution because the chances are there, the plays are there, [and] the possession time is there.”
On Saturday, the T-Birds came out confident and motivated, and after a dominant but low scoring first two periods, the dam broke. UBC got goals from Chanreet Bassi, Mia Bierd and Hannah Koroll in the third to win the second game 5–1, and force a third, deciding game. Looking ahead to Sunday’s matchup, Thomas praised his leaders and promised commitment to the game plan.
“We just have to make sure we’re playing Thunderbird hockey,” said Thomas, “and if we do that, the results will take care of themselves.”
Unfortunately, heading into the final frame of game three tied 0–0, UBC appeared more a shadow of Friday’s 1–0 loss than Saturday’s dominance. However, early in the third period, rookie phenom Cassidy Rhodes capitalized on a T-Birds powerplay to give her team the lead.
? WHKY | Rhodes goes top shelf for a HUGE powerplay goal and @UBCWHKY take a 1-0 lead over @mruwhockey in the third!#GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/jV5gktd8qB
— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) March 6, 2023
Thanks to valiant defending from UBC and key stops from goaltender Elise Hugens down the stretch, Rhodes’ goal proved to be the game winner. T-Bird players spilled from their bench at the final buzzer to celebrate their victory — their dominance over the Canada West secured for the second year in a row and the fifth time in program history.
After the celebrations, Thomas struggled to put into words what the win meant to him and his team, while giving full credit to the visiting Cougars for a hard-fought series.
“To be able to feel what adversity feels like and be able to come out on the other end is really powerful,” said the T-Birds coach in an interview with UBC Athletics. “I think it will give us some good confidence going into Nationals.”
The T-Birds won’t have long to celebrate before their sights set on the U Sports National Championship. The tournament gets underway on Thursday, March 16 in Montreal.