VANCOUVER, BC – The Saskatchewan Huskies hit the road to take on the UBC Thunderbirds in a two game series this weekend. Friday night's matchup would see the Huskies fall 3-1 to the Thunderbirds. 

The Thunderbirds overcame a strong performance from Huskies goaltender Colby Wilson who turned aside 29 of the 32 shots she faced. It was a special teams track meet with both teams combining for 26 penalty minutes in the contest. UBC (15-2-2) notched two power play goals on five attempts, and went 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.
 
"The bright spot of the game was our special teams today, it got us through the game," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas.
 
It was a shaky start for the Thunderbirds as the Huskies (12-6-2) took advantage of an early turnover, capitalizing on a 2-on-1 for the game's first goal. Kendra Zuchotzki finished off a perfect pass from Kara Kondrat just over four minutes into the game. 
 
"We played against a fast team, and that's our first game in 6 weeks, it's going to happen," added Thomas. "We allowed some of those mistakes, turnovers which is uncharacteristic of us."
 
Just before the end of the first Cassidy Rhodes solved a stifling Huskies penalty kill, scoring off a turnover for her team leading 11^th goal of the season. 
 
A pair of second years teamed up to give UBC the 2-1 lead as Grace Elliott scored on the power play off an Annalise Wong rebound. Wong was buzzing in all situations and was rewarded with power play time, an opportunity she took full advantage of.
 
Just over two minutes later, a Joelle Fiala pass intended for Grace Elliott found it's way to second year defender Kailee Peppler who sniped a top-shelf beauty from the point for her first career U SPORTS goal, and the final tally of the game. 

Ths Huskies are without goaltender Camryn Drever and defence Isabella Pozzi this weekend. The women are in Lake Placid, NY with Team Canada competing in the 2023 FISU World Winter University Games. 

Game two of the weekend series will run on Saturday night at 5:00 PM, as the Huskies will look to grab the win against the top ranked Thunderbirds. Game can be streamed live on CanadaWest.TV.