Joshua StorieThe Pandas hockey team continued their winning ways this past weekend, sweeping both of their games against the UBC Thunderbirds, putting them in a tie for spot in Canada West.
Both games were low scoring, with the Pandas winning 1-0 on Friday night, and 2-0 on Saturday afternoon, thanks to solid team defence, and a pair of shutouts by goaltender Lindsay Post, her 20th and 21st of her career.
During Friday night’s game, the Pandas were able to withstand an initial flurry from the visiting team, as Post stopped all six first period shots she faced, and neither team was able to find the back of the net.
The Pandas stepped up their game in second period, outshooting the Thunderbirds 12-3, while also registering the first goal of the game, as Natasha Steblin wired a point shot through a screen to give her team the advantage.
The Thunderbirds couldn’t break through in the third, as Post and the Pandas defence stood tall, preserving the 1-0 victory. Head coach Howie Draper said the Pandas looked tentative in the first period, but came out a lot stronger in the second.
“(UBC) is a very physical team, and I feel like it intimidated us a bit. It didn’t seem like we were applying to type of pressure that we needed to apply,” Draper said. “We talked about it between the first and second period, and I think we as a group decided that we needed to physical ourselves. We couldn’t be intimidated and we needed to make sure we were pressuring the puck at all times, which is our game.”
It was more of the same on Saturday afternoon, as the Pandas were once again able to stifle the Thunderbirds’ offence and control the pace of play, outshooting the visitors 12-1 in the first period, and 22-14 overall.
All the scoring came in the second period once again. Sasha Lutz was able to capitalize on a Thunderbirds turnover to open the scoring, and Alex Poznikoff was able to add some insurance with just under five minutes left in the period, tipping home a point shot for her eighth goal of the year.
Draper credited solid team defence for the team’s two wins on the weekend. “I feel like our defence did a good job of limiting time and space for UBC,” Draper said. “That’s the foundation of our program, if we play solid defence, I know we can be solid on offence.”
Friday’s win was also a personal milestone for Pandas goaltender Lindsay Post, who set a Canada West record with her shutout in the first game.
Draper spoke about how much Post has meant to the program over the course of her career.
“She’s grown into an outstanding goaltender, but not just that, an outstanding leader as well,” Draper said. “She helps provide a great model for all of the young players on our team.”
The weekend sweep pushed the Pandas into a tie for first place in Canada West with the Manitoba Bisons, while shuffling the Thunderbirds down to third place.
Draper talked about the importance of these wins in terms of the Pandas mindset moving forward. “To sweep a team, especially a team as strong as UBC, does amazing things for our confidence,” Draper said. “I think they were huge wins, hopefully we can keep it going.”
The Pandas will now hit the road to face the Lethbridge Pronghorns this weekend, who took both games at Clare Drake arena when the teams met earlier in the year. The Pronghorns have dropped six straight games after getting off to a hot start this season, but Draper is still expecting a challenge.
“Lethbridge is a far better team than last year,” Draper said. “They kind of took it to us earlier in the season, and we were quite clear as a team that we didn’t want to lose to them again.”
During their last matchup, the Pronghorns surprised the Bears with their solid special teams play, killing off all eight penalties during the two games. The Pronghorns’ defence is currently allowing the most shots on goal in Canada West by a healthy margin, but rookie goalie Alicia Anderson has still posted excellent stats this year, holding a 2.35 goals against average, a 7-4-1 record, and a 0.929 save percentage, all while playing the most minutes in Canada West so far this season.
Anderson has made up for a lacklustre offensive attack, which sits second last in Canada West with only 26 goals this season. Currently, the Pronghorns have only one player in the top 20 in Canada West scoring, forward Lauren Fredrich, who has recorded a modest eight points in 14 games so far this season.
The Pandas, meanwhile, are on a solid roll, posting a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games, and will look to take sole possession of first place in Canada West when they battle the Pronghorns this upcoming weekend.
