Coming off of last year's Canada West Championship win, the UBC women’s hockey team swept the University of Regina Cougars during their home opener this weekend, winning 6–1 on both Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
On Friday, the Thunderbirds started the home opener with a goal scored by fourth-year Mackenzie Kordic, off a beautiful assist by Madisyn Wiebe.
The two teams battled back and forth until the second period when captain Rylind MacKinnon tucked a backhanded goal past the Regina goaltender Natalie Williamson to put the ‘Birds up 2–0 going into the third period.
The Thunderbirds did not hold back in the third. Five minutes in, UBC’s Mia Bierd sniped the puck after accepting a pass from Sierra LaPlante. Momentum rose and 55 seconds later, Wiebe accepted a phenomenal pass from Cassidy Rhodes and scored from the slot. However, shortly after, Mya Healey and Bierd took two penalties resulting in a 5-on-3 powerplay for the Cougars, allowing them to make the score 4–1.
But the T-Birds did not let this ruin their momentum. Four minutes later, Kordic had her second goal of the night from high up in the slot. Nearing the end of the third, Kailee Peppler scored the final goal, ending the night with a 6–1 win for UBC.
On Saturday, the Thunderbirds started the game strong with Kordic sniping the puck just 40 seconds into the first period after receiving a pass from MacKinnon. A minute later, the Cougars retaliated with a goal by Jordyn Blais, who slipped the puck past Kayla McDougall to tie it up.
The Thunderbirds had no time to spare in the second period. Grace Elliott scored her first goal of the season, and in the next five minutes, both Makenzie McCallum and Joelle Fiala scored one goal each, both from the slot making the score 4–1 for UBC.
Tensions began to run high, putting Elliott and Regina’s Raea Gilroy in the box for roughing. Nonetheless, McCallum scored her second goal of the night making the game 5–1. Later on, UBC’s Chanreet Bassi took an explosive hit by Regina’s Olivia Leggett, leaving Bassi injured for a short period of time and placing Leggett in the box for boarding and Peppler for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Tensions fizzled out in the third period and Wiebe scored halfway through, assisted by Kordic, to cement the final score at 6–1 again.
Kordic was a driving force for the home-opening successes, tallying a total of five points (three goals, two assists) in the weekend series.
“She’s been unbelievable the plays she's making. It's not just the goals — she’s making great passes, she’s skating hard, she’s playing well,” said head coach Graham Thomas.
This weekend, the Thunderbirds will head to Winnipeg where they will go head-to-head against the University of Manitoba Bisons.
