Vince Loschiavo and Raphael Pelletier each scored for a second straight game as the Huskies downed UBC 4-3 on November 18. Photo: Bob Frid/UBC Thunderbirds

By Ryan Flaherty

Road sweep

Resilient Huskies win second straight over Tbirds

Nov 18, 2023 | 9:41 PM

There’s something about those Vancouver vibes. For a second straight season, the Huskies men’s hockey team completed a road sweep of the UBC Thunderbirds, coming from behind in the third period to win 4-3 on Saturday and move into a tie with the Tbirds for second place in the Canada West, one point behind the Calgary Dinos.

The Huskies have won eight of their last ten games at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre and their latest victory may have been one of the grittiest efforts of them all. Trailing 3-2 entering the third period, Justin Ball drew the Dogs level before Raphael Pelletier scored the winner with just over four minutes left.

Pelletier’s heroics would not have been possible, however, without a massive save by Huskies netminder Jordan Kooy moments before to rob Josh Williams of a goal.

“It was a three-on-two. I knew buddy was driving the middle and they had a lane across, so I just did everything I could to get something in front of it and luckily enough it went right in my glove,” Kooy recounted.

After a 6-2 win on Friday, the Huskies expected a push back from their hosts and the Thunderbirds obliged as a Chris Douglas shot found its way past Kooy 2:42 into the first period. Just 17 seconds later, Jake Kryski tipped home his third goal of the season and UBC had a two-goal lead before the game was even three minutes old.

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But much like the night before, the Dogs responded to the early adversity. Carter Stebbings shoveled a rebound past Kaeden Lane to extend his goal-scoring streak to four games, and the Huskies trailed 2-1 after one period.

The visitors kept pushing in the second and after a strong, cycling shift in the UBC zone, Vince Loschiavo wheeled in the slot and ripped a wrist shot upstairs for his eighth goal of the season to level the score.

However, unlike Friday’s game, when Saskatchewan scored five unanswered goals after being down by one, the Thunderbirds had an answer with Jack Wismer hitting the back of the net midway through the middle frame. Despite being outshot 16-9 in the period, UBC held a 3-2 lead after two.

The third period saw Saskatchewan begin to bear down and take control of the game and at the 4:39 mark, Justin Ball came flying down the right wing and fired a shot off Lane’s glove and into the net to tie the game for a second time. Ball led the Huskies with eight shots on goal on Saturday.

Then came Kooy’s time to shine, taking away a would-be go-ahead goal, and after Scott Atkinson was whistled for interference just a few second later, the stage was set for Pelletier. The rookie forward slid a rebound past Lane on the ensuing power play for his team-leading ninth goal of the year to give the Huskies their first lead of the game with 4:16 to play.

The Thunderbirds had a couple of chances to force overtime in the dying seconds with Lane pulled for an extra attacker but Kooy shut the door. The third-year goaltender finished the night with 21 saves to earn his third win of the season, while Lane made 33 stops in defeat.

“We stuck with it and we just battled. Just wanted the puck more than them and it showed,” Kooy said. “We’re not gonna back down, we’re gonna keep battling ’til the last second.”

The win not only gives the Huskies a sweep of the weekend series but also the season series, something that could prove to be huge down the stretch given how hotly contested the playoff race could be. The top three teams in the conference are now separated by just a single point with Saskatchewan occupying second place by virtue of holding the tiebreaker over UBC.

The Huskies now head into their second and final bye week of the regular season before wrapping up the first semester schedule with a home series against the Mount Royal Cougars on December 1 and 2.

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