No. 1 seeded Gryphons fall to UBC, to play for CIS bronze on Sunday

CALGARY (CIS) - The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds will get a chance at winning their first ever national title after defeating the No. 1 University of Guelph Gryphons 2-1 in a shootout in the semifinal of the CIS Women's Hockey Championships on Saturday, March 19.

With the win, UBC advances to Sunday's final, with the opponent to be determined in the second semifinal that is set to be played at 5:30 p.m. MT Saturday evening. The final will take place at 12:30 p.m. MT on Sunday, March 20. Guelph will face the loser of the second semifinal in the bronze medal game Sunday, March 20 at 8:45 a.m. MT. Both games are available live on Sportsnet One.

In their second consecutive appearance at the national tournament the Gryphons are once again left without the opportunity to take home the gold medal. Guelph has a chance to make its program history as they compete for a bronze medal, having never placed higher than fourth. This will be UBC's first chance at a national title. The Thunderbirds finished fifth in 2013, this is their second appearance at the national tournament.

The Thunderbirds were led by HaneetParhar, who scored the shootout winner. Guelph struggled to get shots on net in the first period, registering only five. Guelph rebounded in the second but couldn't solve Dube for the rest of the game.

"I didn't even have my stick on the bench, my coach leaned over and said we had worked on this in practice, you're shooting, you know what to do," said UBC forwardParhar. "We don't stop, no matter what happens to us, we're still going and we don't lose faith in each other. We all believed we could do this and win."

Guelph would register the first goal of the game mid-way through the first period on the power play. Kaitlin Lowy scored her first of the tournament beating UBC's Danielle Dube with a high blocker side wrist shot on the power play.

While both teams made a trail to the penalty box throughout the third period it was the Thunderbirds who found success and tied the game. Kelly Murray fired a low slap shot on net from the point on the power play, that found its way through traffic and into the back of the net, beating the CIS player of the year, Valerie Lamenta.

Dube and Lamenta both turned away 31 shots in regulation before the game headed into overtime.

UBC continued to run into penalty trouble in overtime. Guelph fired six shots on Dube, who stopped everything. It appeared UBC had won the game with just under two minutes remaining in OT, only to have its goal called off for goalie interference.

In the shootout, Guelph's Lowy shot and scored on its first attempt, UBC would once again tie the game in its second shooter Kathleen Cahoon. The game would require an additional five shooters before the Thunderbirds Parhar scored the winner, beating Lamenta backhand – blocker side.

 "We knew going into the game it was going to be a very good match up," explained Guelph's head coach Rachel Flanagan. "We knew UBC were going to come out hard. They were fighting for a first time medal in their program as well, we played our best game today and they beat us at our best. Tomorrow there is pride on the line."

Jessica Pinkerton received the player of the game for the Gryphons, while Thunderbirds defenceman Murray was awarded the player of the game for her game tying goal.

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST PERIOD

1.GUE Kaitlin Lowy (1) (Jessica Pellegrino), 10:00 PP

PENALTIES:

Shilton(GUE) tripping, 3:25;
Lawrence (GUE) slashing, 7:37;

Cahoon (UBC) slashing, 8:14;

Merrick (GUE) too many men, 13:20;

Tardif (UBC) bodychecking, 15:29.

SECOND PERIOD

PENALTIES:

Saxvik (UBC) goalie interference, 9:58;
Shilton(GUE) delay of game, 14:30;

Lee (GUE) 2 min. hit to the head, 19:13.

THIRD PERIOD

1. UBCKelly Murray (1) (KathleenCahoon), 7:41 PP

PENALTIES:

Contant(GUE) bodychecking, 7:20;
Shilton (GUE) slashing, 8:34;
Snodgrass (UBC) hooking, 10:04;
Contant (GUE) bodychecking, 14:37;

Nooren (GUE) tripping, 15:34;

Murray (UBC) holding, 17:08;

Toth (UBC) cross checking, 19:15.

OT PERIOD

PENALTIES:

Snodgrass (UBC) roughing, 2:25.

SHOOTOUT:

GUE Kaitlin Lowy - GOAL

UBC Nicole Saxvik - missed

GUE Averi Noore – missed

UBC Kathleen Cahoon - GOAL

GUE Jessica Pinkerton - missed

UBC Rebecca Unrau - missed

GUE Leigh Shilton - missed

UBCMathea Fischer - missed

GUE Kaitlin Lowy - missed

UBC Kathleen Cahoon - missed

GUE Christine Grant - missed

UBCShiayli Toni - missed

GUE Kelly Gribbons - missed

UBC Rebecca Unrau - missed

GUE Kaitlin Lowy - missed

UBCHaneetParhar - GOAL

GOALS (by period)
GUE 1-0-0-0: 1
UBC 0-0-1-0: 1

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
GUE 5-13-10-6: 32
UBC 17-4-13-1: 37

POWER PLAY:
GUE 1-9
UBC 1-9

GOALTENDERS
GUE – Valerie Lamenta(L, 1-1, 32 shots, 31 saves, 1 GA, 70:0)
UBC – Danielle Dube(W, 0-2, 37 shots, 36 saves, 1 GA, 70:00)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
GUE: Jessica Pinkerton
UBC: Kelly Murray

ATTENDANCE:475
REFEREE: Vanessa Morin
LINESMEN: Jacquie Fitz, Shannon Kline

START: 2:10
END: 5:02
LENGTH: 2:52

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times MOUNTAIN TIME)

Thursday,March 17
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Guelph 3, St. Thomas 0
15:00 Quarter-final 2: UBC 4, McGill 2

Friday, March 18
11:00 Consolation 1: St. Thomas 2, McGill 1
15:00 Quarter-final 3: Saint Mary's 1 Western 0
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Calgary 0, Montreal  4

Saturday, March 19
10:00 Consolation 2: Western 1, Calgary 3
14:00 Semifinal 1: Guelph1, UBC 2

17:30 Semifinal 2: No. 3 Saint Mary's vs. No. 2 Montreal (Sportsnet ONE / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *

Sunday, March 20
8:45 Bronze No. 1 Guelph vs. Loser of Semifinal 2 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
9:00 5th-place game: No. 7 Calgary vs No. 8 St. Thomas (www.CIS-SIC.tv) (at Joan Snyder Arena)
12:30 Final No. 4 UBC vs. Winner of Semifinal 2 (Sportsnet 360 & TVA Sports 2 / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *

Webcast of the semifinals & final are on pay-per-view basis.