Manitoba takes 5-2 decision over 'Birds in regular season finale
Aaron Martin (UBC Thunderbirds)
VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team fell short in their regular season finale, dropping a 5-2 decision to the Manitoba Bisons.
The big guns were firing on all cylinders for the Bisons, as winger Shaq Merasty bagged a goal and two assists, while team captain Jordan DePape had a goal and a helper of his own. Jordyn Boyd, Liam Bilton and Brett Stovin had the other goals for Manitoba.
Defender Kyle Becker (Langey, B.C.) led the charge for UBC's offence, notching a goal and assist for the hosts. Big winger Jessi Hilton (Sherwood Park, Alta.) had the other tally for UBC on the night.
UBC head coach Adam Shell admits that though the work rate, and level of play might be there for his squad, there is clearly something that needs to improve as they head into the playoffs.
"Did we do enough? Sure, we're not finishing, but I thought we had more than enough chances. In the third period, though, we have to find a way, and that's where we have to keep grinding away. I've got to make some adjustments, they have to make some adjustments."
Against the flow of play, a freak bounce got the scoring underway just under four minutes into the contest.
While the T-Birds were exiting their own zone, an errant pass bounced off the skate of winger Manraj Hayer (Vancouver) and found its way to Manitoba's Jonah Wasylak. The forward found himself in space, broke in on Williams, and lost his footing, and the puck, as he approached the crease. Fortunately for the Bisons, Boyd was on the spot and waiting, as the loose puck found its way to him. Boyd made no mistake with an empty net to shoot at, putting the Bisons up 1-0.
Another bounced helped the Bison double their lead six minutes later. After Sean Christiansen jumped down the left boards, the rookie defender put a nice pass back to Merasty. The pass took a strange hop off of Merasty's stick, but slid right to DePape in the slot, who wired a shot past Williams.
Finally, the T-Birds got on the board with just two and a half minutes left in the opening period. On the power play, the former Medicine Hat Tiger Becker sent a quick little feed over to big winger Hilton, who hammered home the one-timer to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Despite the score, the T-Birds dictated the play in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Manitoba 15-7. Bisons netminder Justin Paulic was excellent, particularly over the course of UBC's three power plays in the first period.
It took the 'Birds only two minutes of the second period to beat Paulic for the second time. Shifty winger Nick Buonassisi (Coquitlam, B.C.) showed off his quick hands and balance on his skates, holding on to the puck deep in the offensive end. The winger then put a perfect pass back to the point, where Becker stepped up and snapped a 60-footer past Paulic to even up the score at 2-2.
That didn't last long – just three minutes after Becker tied it, forward Bilton restored Manitoba's lead. The end result of some great passing from Luke Paulsen and Merasty, Bilton found himself open at the backdoor, beating Williams from in tight.
The score stayed that way until late in the final frame, when Stovin added some insurance for the Bisons. DePape, Canada West's leading scorer, picked up the assist.
With just over a minute left in the game, Merasty potted an empty netter to add to his stat line for the night.
With the regular season in the books, Shell and the 'Birds will now travel to Cowtown, where they'll face the Mount Royal Cougars, who finished third in the Canada West standings this past season.
Although, those standings aren't of any concern to Shell in the playoffs.
"Now, you get to wipe the slate clean, so that's good," said the T-Birds head coach. "It doesn't matter now, where you finished or how the season ended. If we can go out and win a couple of games in Calgary, we'll be alright."
Manitoba will host the Calgary Dinos in the other Canada West quarter-final series. Alberta and Saskatchewan earned first-round byes.
IMAGE CREDIT: Rich Lam/UBC Thunderbirds