T-Birds enter winter break on a high with big win over TWU

VANCOUVER – With exam season and an extended break from Canada West action around the corner, the UBC Thunderbirds (17-1) passed their final test of 2025 with a 3-0 victory over the Trinity Western Spartans (8-9-1) Saturday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
 
It was a tense battle as the Spartans entered the final game of the calendar year on a four-game losing streak, but UBC was able to pull out the win thanks to stellar goaltending from Mya Lucifora and key goals from Grace Elliott and Hanna Perrier.
 
"We were talking this week about how much of a competitor Trinity Western is," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas. "They play with a lot of heart and it's not an easy team to face going into the break. But we wanted to finish feeling good about our effort and how we're playing. Credit to the girls for responding and coming ready to play."


 
It was clear it would be a tight-checking affair from the game's onset. Both UBC and Trinity Western surrendered powerplays in the first period, but it would be the Spartans who had the best opportunities to score thanks to a flurry of traffic in front of Lucifora.
 
With Mya Healey in the box late in the opening frame, Kasey Ditner was able to walk the blueline and nearly found the back of the net with a seeing eye shot, just missing wide.
 
After a slow offensive start to the first period, Thomas' squad entered the second frame eager to break the deadlock. But to make matters worse, the T-Birds started the period with a series of penalties that gave TWU back-to-back 5-on-3 opportunities.
 
Despite having two extra attackers for the bulk of the first five minutes, the Spartans were unable to capitalize on the opportunity. UBC rallied around the momentum gained from four straight penalty kills thanks to the classic connection of Annalise Wong to Elliott. After some good work along the boards by Wong, Elliott walked in on goal from the short-side and snapped a shot over the shoulder of Olivia Davidson into the only glimmer of daylight available to open scoring.

"The message going into the second was to play with a little heart and fight and we got called on some penalties, but I'd rather us play that way – engaged and putting it on the line – than sleepy," Thomas said. "Our penalty kill continues to have our backs and gave us a big boost."
 
The game's energy continued to tilt in UBC's favour as Jacquelyn Fleming and Perrier connected behind the net to allow Perrier to bang home her own rebound to send UBC ahead 2-0 entering the final period.
 
"You talk about effort, will and heart – Hanna plays with all those things and a relentless fight on the puck with second efforts and that's how she got rewarded for it."


 
Trinity Western threatened in the third, but could not mount sustained offensive pressure, only registering a few shots on goal in the final 20 minutes. UBC scored the dagger thanks to a strong rush from Elliott, who slid a pass to Vanessa Schaefer that deflected off the second-year centre's shin pad to give the T-Birds plenty of insurance to close out the game.
 
With the win and her fourth shutout of the season, Lucifora improved to 8-1.
 
Following a sweep of the weekend home-and-home series against the Spartans, the T-Birds soar into the winter break with a 17-1 record.
 
UBC's first tilt of 2026 will be a road trip against the east division leading Mount Royal Cougars with a two-game weekend set starting Friday, January 9.
 
"The second half of the season will go really fast and it will be nice to start the year fresh and to take on a big challenge. We can't be complacent over the break and we just need to keep working and playing Thunderbird hockey."