Vancouver, BC -
The UBC Thunderbirds took over sole possession of third place in the Canada West conference with a 5-2 victory over the Manitoba Bisons Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Cole Wilson (White Rock, BC) led the way with two goals and two assists, while Jordan White (Surrey, BC) made 39 saves in the victory.
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"I thought we came out slow tonight," said head coach Milan Dragicevic. Their pace of play is incredible. They are the fastest team in the league and once we adjusted and started making simple plays, we started to capitalize on our opportunities.
Jordan White did a great job of keeping us in the game early, making a number of great saves, which our entire team in it."
The opening period saw neither team find the back of the net, though the Bisons did dominate on the shot clock, outshooting UBC 15-6. The best chance came midway through the frame, when Ian Duval picked off a errant pass at the Thunderbirds blueline, drove hard to the net, but would be denied by Jordan White. The majority of Manitoba's other shots were from long range, which White handled easily, stopping all 15 shots fired his way in the period. UBC's best chance came on a two on one between Cole Wilson and Wyatt Hamilton (Cocrane, AB), however Hamilton's one timer was kicked aside by Bisons goaltender Jesse Deckert. UBC had the lone power play of the period, but were unable to generate any sort of significant scoring chances.
UBC put themselves into penalty trouble early in the second period, but some great work on the penalty kill prevented the visitors from getting any opportunities in the Thunderbirds zone. Cole Wilson would get UBC on the board 8:10 into the frame, killing another penalty he hammered a slapper home from the top of the right circle to put the Thunderbirds up 1-0. UBC added to their lead, this time on the man advantage as the conference's top ranked power play went to work. Max Grassi (North Vancouver, BC) potted his fourth goal of the year on a nice passing play from Wilson and Neil Manning (Nanaimo, BC). It was Manning's team leading 11th assist of the year. Wilson was not done in the period, scoring his second goal of the game and sixth of the season with 40.1 seconds remaining in the period to give the Thunderbirds a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes of play.
It didn't take long for UBC to add to their lead in the third period as Nate Fleming (St. Albert, AB) kept it on a two on one, scoring his third goal of the season 1:28 into the final frame to put the Thunderbirds in front 4-0. With 13:55 left in the third period, Ilan Cumberbirch (Vancouver, BC) was ejected from the game for checking from behind, receiving a five minute major and a game misconduct. UBC's Kevin Smith (North Vancouver, BC) took a minor penalty to give the Bisons a 5-on-3 for over 90 seconds. Manitoba would convert as Dane Crowley's slapper beat Jordan White to end his shutout bid and cut the lead to 4-1 for the Thunderbirds. The Bisons were not done there as a hard working shift produced Paul Ciarelli's first career CIS goal, as UBC's lead was down to two goals with 5:37 remaining. UBC though would shut the door the rest of the way, adding a empty netter courtesy of Wyatt Hamilton to win their seventh game of the season, 5-2 was the final score.
"We lost our composure in the third period and took too many bad penalites," said Dragicevic. "We are a young team and still learning, but we can't be taking penalties and giveing that power play a five minute advantage; they are way too skilled."
Cole Wilson continued his hot play, as he now has five goals and three assists in his last three games.
Nate Fleming had a three point night, collecting one goal and two helpers.
"Ever since we put Cole with
Nate Fleming and
Wyatt Hamilton, they have just created so much," said Dragicevic. "They work so hard and Cole has a knack for finding the net. He has the best shot on the team and that was evident tonight and last week against Mount Royal. He picks his spots, is opportunistic, and after only playing 10 games last year is completely healthy this season."
The final shots were 41-20 in favour of Manitoba. White stopped 39 of the 41 shots he face to earn his 5th win of the year.
The Thunderbirds finished the night 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Bisons went 1-for-5.
With the win UBC moves into third place in the Canada West conference, one point up on Regina and two points ahead of Manitoba.
Tomorrow night these two teams will do battle once again at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Puck drop is 7:00 pm.
