After winning a tightly contested season opener last Friday, UBC’s women’s hockey team notched another early season victory, taking down the MacEwan University Griffins on Canada West’s opening weekend to win 3–1 on Oct. 4 in the Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton.
Despite losing some key players from last year’s squad — such as forward Chanreet Bassi, the first Thunderbird player drafted into the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) — UBC still has very experienced athletes, with 12 fifth-year players, as well as some promising new additions to their roster.
Reigning U Sports Player of the Year Grace Elliott and goaltender Elise Hugens — the program’s all-time wins leader — are back for their fifth and final season at UBC, while defenders Audrey Church, Presley Zinger and Elle Lorenz, along with forward Barunka Sibertova, have just joined the blue-and-gold.
According to the annual Canada West coaches poll, UBC is favoured to win the conference this year, placing just ahead of the University of Alberta Pandas, who beat them in the Canada West finals last year. Despite lofty expectations, there’s still a long season ahead of the ‘Birds, and they made an important first step against MacEwan.
Saturday’s game marked UBC’s 12th consecutive win against MacEwan. The ‘Birds have only ever lost to MacEwan once, back in 2021 — the Griffins’ first season in Canada West. Beyond their head-to-head record, both teams have often been on opposite ends of the standings. The Thunderbirds have consistently been Canada West finalists in the last couple of seasons, while the Griffins have suffered more losses than wins through that same period, often finishing last or second-last in the conference.
Despite their prior success against the Griffins, UBC started off the weekend with a tough Friday night match, only pulling out a victory after forward Elliott scored a goal in the second period — her first of the season — for a 1–0 win.
After hanging with UBC for most of the game on Friday, the Griffins were able to come out on Saturday and know they could hang with the ‘Birds, regardless of past results. The home team fought hard to stop the T-Birds, who came out of the gate playing fast and aggressively.
UBC played offensively for most of the first period, managing to intercept a few of the Griffins’ plays and retain possession of the puck. Early on, the atmosphere between both teams was tense, with occasional body checking and scrums breaking out throughout the game. Yet, despite their offensive energy, the ‘Birds weren’t able to get past MacEwan’s goalie, Lindsey Johnson, even with their three power plays.
The scoreboard finally lit up for the first time in the second period. T-Birds forward Annalise Wong, the team’s captain, scored early on, racing ahead after receiving a long pass from Elliott and firing the puck into the net five-hole on a partial breakaway before the Griffins’ defenders could stop her.
Wong’s goal built some momentum for the ‘Birds — their second goal came less than two minutes later, despite being shorthanded. After intercepting a pass from the opposing team, Elliott threw the puck to forward Vanessa Schaefer, who was quickly surrounded by Griffins players. Facing intense pressure, she threaded the puck between her opponents back to Elliott, who was waiting alone in front of the goal, making the game 2–0 for the ‘Birds.
The last goal for the blue-and-gold came 12 minutes into the period, with a long pass from Wong to Schaefer, who battled for the puck in front of the goal before sending it to the back of MacEwan’s net. After struggling to score on the Griffins on Friday, the ‘Birds were able to score three times in just over seven minutes in the second period.
Up to this point, the Griffins seemed dead in the water, hemmed back in their own zone, defending against UBC and not getting many shots on goal themselves. When they did get a chance in the ‘Birds zone, they capitalized. Off a shot from against the boards, forward Megan Dolynchuk managed to find a gap between three UBC players and score the only MacEwan goal of the weekend, with three minutes left in the second period.
While no goals were scored, the tension between the teams still escalated in an explosive last period, with five different T-Birds seeing the inside of the penalty box. The Griffins were only penalized twice. The total penalties of the match came to an impressive 15, with nine of these sentences being handed out to ‘Birds. Given their extended time spent on the penalty kill, it’s all the more impressive how dominant UBC was. Despite those nine penalties, the ‘Birds scored more on MacEwan power plays than the Griffins did.
Considering how UBC dominated the ice in both matches, this weekend’s wins weren’t surprising, but it is worth noting how aggressive the Thunderbirds were against one of the weaker opponents in Canada West. After losing in the first round of the national tournament for two years in a row, the ‘Birds can’t take any opponent lightly. Their effort against the Griffins showcases how dedicated this team is in making a push for the national championship this year.
The Thunderbirds have shown this weekend that they won’t be an easy team to beat this season. The next test for the ‘Birds will be against the Trinity Western Spartans, who also won their first two games of the season after facing off against the defending conference champion Pandas. UBC will travel to Langley for the first game on Oct. 10 before coming back home to Vancouver for a re-match on Oct. 11.
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