WHKY: T-Birds edge Huskies to take semifinal series lead
February 24, 2023
VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds home dominance continued Friday night with a 1-0 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies in game one of the Canada West semifinal. The T-Birds fired a total of 49 shots on Huskies goaltender Camryn Drever with Sophia Gaskell's long range third period blast the only one to get past her, as the T-Birds won their 20th straight game at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, putting the Huskies on the brink of playoff elimination.
UBC faced a stifling defensive effort from the Huskies which held the T-Birds' top-ranked offence in check for much of the game. The fifth-seeded Huskies were a perfect 4/4 on the penalty kill and got stellar goaltending with Drever's standout 48-save performance. However, the T-Birds offence continued to attack, and ultimately prevailed.
"They were as calm and as focused as they could've been," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas. "That just shows the resilience of our group. A team could've easily started to get nervous, started to back off, and our group stayed calm, confident and focused. We just kept sticking to the process, we knew it was going to come at some point."
Playing to a 0-0 score until the third period, the teams had no shortage of playoff intensity. The T-Birds finally broke the deadlock when UBC's leading-scorer Chanreet Bassi caused a turnover in the offensive zone. Gaskell walked the blue line before sniping a slapshot past Drever. The goal would stand as the eventual game-winner.
Second-year T-Birds goalie Elise Hugens made nine saves, recording her fourth straight shutout.
Saskatchewan will be looking to create more offence Saturday, facing elimination in game two of the best-of-three series.
"It doesn't matter what the shots are, there were a lot of shots that were icings from the red line," said Saskatchewan head coach Steve Kook. "You get to playoffs, this is the crew we got and the game we came here with. Just as simple as possible, we just got to keep taking swings."
The T-Birds have now won 13-straight games as they continue their quest for back-to-back Canada West titles. Offence will also be a point-of-focus for UBC as they prepare for Game 2.
"Keeping the same gameplan sticking to the same process," insisted Thomas. "But just in the offensive zone we're going to watch video and find ways to beat Drever, so the biggest thing is offensive zone adjustments."
Game two of the Canada West semifinals gets underway at 7:00 p.m. PT at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
UBC faced a stifling defensive effort from the Huskies which held the T-Birds' top-ranked offence in check for much of the game. The fifth-seeded Huskies were a perfect 4/4 on the penalty kill and got stellar goaltending with Drever's standout 48-save performance. However, the T-Birds offence continued to attack, and ultimately prevailed.
"They were as calm and as focused as they could've been," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas. "That just shows the resilience of our group. A team could've easily started to get nervous, started to back off, and our group stayed calm, confident and focused. We just kept sticking to the process, we knew it was going to come at some point."
Playing to a 0-0 score until the third period, the teams had no shortage of playoff intensity. The T-Birds finally broke the deadlock when UBC's leading-scorer Chanreet Bassi caused a turnover in the offensive zone. Gaskell walked the blue line before sniping a slapshot past Drever. The goal would stand as the eventual game-winner.
Second-year T-Birds goalie Elise Hugens made nine saves, recording her fourth straight shutout.
Saskatchewan will be looking to create more offence Saturday, facing elimination in game two of the best-of-three series.
"It doesn't matter what the shots are, there were a lot of shots that were icings from the red line," said Saskatchewan head coach Steve Kook. "You get to playoffs, this is the crew we got and the game we came here with. Just as simple as possible, we just got to keep taking swings."
The T-Birds have now won 13-straight games as they continue their quest for back-to-back Canada West titles. Offence will also be a point-of-focus for UBC as they prepare for Game 2.
"Keeping the same gameplan sticking to the same process," insisted Thomas. "But just in the offensive zone we're going to watch video and find ways to beat Drever, so the biggest thing is offensive zone adjustments."
Game two of the Canada West semifinals gets underway at 7:00 p.m. PT at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.