To say one has a talented team is one thing, but to actually show that is another. Come playoff time, the slate is wiped clean. Records no longer matter. Reputations are built at this time of year, not during the regular season.
Last Friday, the Thunderbirds backed up their stellar regular season with a dominating show in the playoffs and demonstrated the depth of their bench against the Trinity Western Spartans (TWU) in the first game of the semifinal series of the Canada West playoffs.
While these two squads were separated by 12 wins and 22 points in the standings, with the T-Birds being the clear initial favourite, UBC had one thing working against them. Momentum. Coming into the game, the Spartans were emboldened by an upset victory against the University of Calgary Dinos in the quarterfinals. The Langley team notched two dominating victories — 5–1 on Feb. 20 and a 4–2 on Feb. 21 — both in their adversary’s home barn, advancing into the semifinals for the first time in the program’s history.
The Thunderbirds, on the other hand, hadn’t played in nearly a month. Their last game was a 2–1 win against the University of Alberta Pandas on Feb. 7, a 20-day hiatus.
While such a long break could make the ‘Birds rusty or leave them with their guards down, instead, this break was vital. For UBC, the rest was needed in order to get important players, like Mya Healey and Kailee Peppler, back from injuries, or, in forward Vanessa Schaefer’s case, back from the Olympics. Schaefer is a little more than a week removed from her final game in Milan-Cortina, where she won a bronze medal with the Swiss national team. Not only is Schaefer the first active T-Birds women’s hockey player to play in the Olympics, but she also joins an exclusive club of being the seventh Thunderbird to win a medal at the Winter Olympics.
"It was nice to have [Schaefer] back … She was one of three players inserted into the lineup. It was nice, it really gave us a jump," said head coach Graham Thomas. "I’m sure she’s a little jet-lagged … but she’s tough, played through it and had a nice goal there."
Aside from Schaefer’s tally in her first game back, three other Thunderbirds lit up the scoreboard in the 4–0 victory, which saw UBC dominating the visitors for most of the match, starting early in the first period.
A few minutes into the game, the Thunderbirds' offence got to work. The ‘Birds applied heavy pressure, tallying up shots on goal, with forward Annalise Wong being the first T-Bird to test the Trinity Western starting goaltender, Kate Fawcett.
Despite not letting any shots through, the Spartans’ netminder held firm, continuing to defend the onslaught of attempts — until seven minutes into the period.
Taking a breakout pass from Cassidy Rhodes at centre ice, first year forward Ilona Markova made her way across the ice with possession of the puck, cutting between two Spartans players, sliding a quick shot through Fawcett’s unprotected five-hole. This was only Markova’s third goal of the year, but she seems to have a knack for scoring against the Spartans — two of her three goals this season have been against TWU.
Being the second-highest scoring team in the country, the ‘Birds can pick up tallies in bunches. The Markova goal opened the floodgates. Only 77 seconds later, the ‘Birds scored again with defender Jaylyn Morris getting in on the action. With two defenders in front of her, she cut inside to turn around the first Spartan, before using the speed that made her a first-team all-star to burst past the second. Having split the defenders, she shot and beat Fawcett clean, once again going five-hole to light up the scoreboard for UBC for the second time in the game.
With a two-goal lead, the ‘Birds didn’t let up. The subsequent minutes saw the Thunderbirds spending sustained time in the offensive zone, taking shots at the goal and repeatedly intercepting passes between Spartans’ players, not giving them many opportunities to get out of their own zone.
A UBC power play opportunity to UBC later in the period finally seemed to jolt Trinity Western awake. The visitors managed to kill off the penalty, and while still scoreless, finally became more aggressive and spent more time in the offensive zone.
This momentum carried on to the beginning of the second period, with TWU flipping the script, hemming UBC in their own zone.
That is, until a turnover, forced by the Thunderbirds, led to a 2-on-1 rush by Markova and forward Karine Sandilands. The play didn’t end in another goal being scored, but the chance brought back the intensity UBC had earlier in the match.
But that close call didn’t stop the crosstown rivals from continuing to fight back against the T-Birds. A power play opportunity five minutes into the period saw Trinity Western get repeated shots on goal, but were unable to convert. Unfortunately, for the visitors, the ‘Birds were on a roll.
Nine minutes into the period, Schaefer took off across the ice on a partial breakaway, and right in front of the goal, passed it to forward Grace Elliott who delivered a strong one-timer that just barely went wide.
Fortunately for UBC, Elliott’s miss bounced against the backboard and right into Schaefer's waiting stick on the other side, scoring the third goal of the match, and her seventh in the season. Down three with half the game still to play, Trinity Western needed a spark. With that, Fawcett was pulled in favour of Olivia Davidson. It didn’t work.
The fourth goal of the match came only two minutes later. With forward Hanna Perrier’s shot bouncing off the post and behind the net, the puck was then recovered by forward Jacquelyn Fleming, who quickly passed it onto forward Mia Bierd. With Beird having room in the slot, she found a corner of the net unattended to score the last goal of the day for the ‘Birds.
As she turned to celebrate with her teammates, Bierd fell on the ice, taking two other players along with her. Sprawled on the ground, the joy of the goal was visible in each of the players’ faces. At this point in the game, they could start to feel the taste of victory. But the clock had not hit zero yet.
With four minutes left in the period, Trinity Western got another power play opportunity. They managed to get a few shots on goal in, but between UBC’s defenders and the experienced goaltender Elise Hugens, the Spartans were still unable to light up the scoreboard. Heading into the locker room, the ‘Birds held a commanding 4–0 lead.
The third period started with the visitors going for broke, desperately trying to gain momentum. Their tenacity, however, led to some errors that, in turn, became power plays for the home team.
The Thunderbirds, seemingly satisfied with the looks of the scoreboard, pulled the brakes. They didn’t convert on any of the power play opportunities during the final period — but they didn’t need to.
Despite an unusually slow last period for the ‘Birds, coach Thomas was satisfied with the team’s performance on the ice.
"We've been asking for [scoring depth] and that's what we've been getting," said Thomas. "We need everybody to step up and that's what they're doing … because [then] the other team doesn't know who to shut down or where [the offence] is coming from."
With the win on Friday, the ‘Birds drew one step closer to a seventh Canada West title, needing one more win to sweep the Spartans and clinch a berth in both the Canada West final and the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship.
But beyond the big-picture playoff implications, the ‘Birds have to be happy with how they played. Coming off a long break, they looked like themselves — and not just the stars — the whole team. It’s a performance that bodes well for the rest of the playoffs, no matter who they’re facing.
