Game Information
 
Date: Friday, Nov. 1 & Saturday, Nov. 2
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Saskatoon, SK
Venue: Merlis Belsher Place
Watch: Canadawest.tv
Get in the Action: Tickets
 
SASKATOON – Following a four-game road swing, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's hockey team is back on home ice this weekend as they get set to take on the UBC Thunderbirds for the first time this season.
 
The Huskies have turned it on over the past two weeks and will be looking to continue their strong play, as they enter Friday nights tilt against the Thunderbirds as winners of four of their last five games.
 
Saskatchewan picked up a sweep over the Calgary Dinos last weekend, with 3-1 and 3-0 victories on the road.  
 
Meanwhile, after a slow start to the season, which saw UBC lose three of their first four games, the Thunderbirds will fly into the Bridge City with two-consecutive wins under their belts. UBC notched back-to-back 3-0 and 1-0 shutout victories over the visiting Manitoba Bisons at Doug Mitchell Rink and have not lost in regulation since their 7-1 defeat to the Alberta Pandas back on opening weekend.
 
The Thunderbirds were ranked second in the preseason coaches' poll with 41 points, narrowly edging out the third-ranked Huskies who received 39 points. Both clubs earned one first-place vote apiece, with the Alberta Pandas receiving the other six first-place votes.
 
However, it's been a wild start to the Canada West season, and UBC sits in fifth in the conference with a 4-2-0-2 record.
 
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan sits in third in the conference with a 4-2-1-1 record, trailing first-place Lethbridge Pronghorns by only one-point through eight games this season.
 
The Huskies will look to make up ground on the Pronghorns, as well as separate themselves from the Thunderbirds, and the other four clubs beneath them in the standings, this weekend, as the team searches for their third-consecutive victory on Friday night.
 
10 Things
 
1: The Huskies are looking forward to returning to home ice, with their last game at Merlis Belsher Place coming on Oct. 5, the club went 27 days without playing a conference tilt within the friendly confines of their second-year building.
 
2: The Huskies have not lost in regulation to the Thunderbirds in regular-season play at home in the past five years, holding a 4-0-2-0 record during that stretch.
 
3: UBC has been outscored 17-5 in contests on the road this season and holds a 1-2-0-1 record away from the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
 
4: Saskatchewan has won seven of their last ten games against UBC, despite the Thunderbirds taking three of four from the Huskies last season.
 
5: Huskies forward Sophie Lalor, who is the lone British Columbia native on the roster, leads the team in scoring this season with two goals and four assists through eight games.
 
6: Saskatchewan forward Abby Shirley leads the Canada West with three game-winning goals this season. Shirley notched the game-winner against the Dinos last Friday night, as her tally with under three minutes remaining in the third period gave the Huskies the lead.
 
7: The Huskies have used both of their goaltenders frequently to begin the season, as Jessica Vance has received five starts between the pipes and Camryn Drever has started three games. Vance holds a 1.38 goals-against-average and 0.953 save-percentage, while Drever has a 0.96 goals-against-average and 0.955 save-percentage
 
8 Each of Saskatchewan and UBC's games at Merlis Belsher Place last season went into overtime, with each club winning one game apiece.
 
9: The Thunderbirds have won three of the previous seven Canada West championships.
 
10: Through eight games of conference play, the top five teams in the conference are separated by only two points.
 
Scouting the Thunderbirds
 
UBC, who won back-to-back Canada West Championships in 2015-16 and 2016-17, is coached by Graham Thomas. He is looking to get the Thunderbirds back to the postseason after falling in the conference semifinals in back-to-back seasons.
 
After closing the regular season on the backs with a 7-0-1-1 record in their final ten games, UBC looked poised for a team postseason run. But after the club swept the Regina Cougars in the Canada West quarterfinals, the Bisons edged the T-Birds in semifinal action to put an end to their playoff dreams.
 
Forwards Hannah Clayton-Carrol and Ashley McFadden, along with defenseman Mikayla Ogrodniczuk lead UBC with four points this season. Clayton-Carrol was the leading point-getter for the club last season after registering ten goals and seven assists, good enough to tie her for sixth in the conference.
 
Goaltender Tori Micklash has started all eight games for the Thunderbirds this season. After her rocky start to the 2019-20 campaign against the Pandas, the netminder has found her groove, allowing only five goals over her last three games, including her pair of shutouts last weekend over the Bisons, stopping all 27 shots she faced over the weekend.