T-Birds defeat Huskies in consolation final
The U of S Huskie women’s hockey team’s season came to an end on Sunday morning. The UBC Thunderbirds downed the U of S 4-1 in the consolation final of the 2024 GFL U SPORTS women’s hockey championships, presented by Connect Energy at Merlis Belsher Place.
Saskatchewan’s graduating captain, Kennedy Brown, tied the game at one with a goal at the 6:19 mark of the first period after Ashton Thrope opened the scoring for UBC. The Huskies then got into some penalty trouble and UBC took advantage. T-Bird veteran, Grace Elliott, was penalized for body checking, injuring Huskie defender Isabella Pozzi on the play. Brooklyn Stevely of the Huskies took exception and took a 4-minute penalty in the process. The Thunderbirds scored the first of two power-play goals when McKenzie McCallum scored at 12:25 to make it a 2-1 game.
The Thunderbirds outshot the Huskies 9-5 in the second period and scored an insurance goal on another power-play advantage. Elliott, who had 21 points for UBC in 28 regular-season games, beat Huskie goaltender Camryn Drever with 1:38 remaining in the middle frame to make it a 3-1 game after 40 minutes.
The shots on goal were 9-9 in the third period. Saskatchewan had one power play chance mid-way through final frame but could not capitalize. With two minutes remaining, Drever came out of the U of S net for the extra skater, but Cassidy Rhodes of the T-Birds slid the puck into the empty cage.