Box Score CALGARY –  The UBC Thunderbirds were too much to handle for the MRU Cougars women's hockey team on Friday.

The back-to-back defending Canada West champion T-Birds defeated Mount Royal by a 5-0 score at Flames Community to kick off a weekend mini-series between two of the league's top teams. 

Both sides were playing without key pieces of their respective lineups on Friday. Aliya Jomha, Alex Spence and Kaitlyn Ross from MRU along with UBC blueliner Sophia Gaskell have all departed to Italy to represent Team Canada at the 2025 FISU Winter World University games.

Cougars head coach Scott Rivett remained optimistic about his squad in lieu of the notable absences.  

"Of course it leaves a bit of a whole without them in the lineup," commented Rivett. "But I think one of the biggest strength of this program is our depth."

With Ross away, Scout Anderson made her fourth start of the year. Anderson has collected eight career wins over her three-year tenure backing up Ross and has recorded five shutouts 

The Thunderbirds struck first with a goal from Canada West leading scorer and MVP frontrunner Grace Elliott. The fourth-year winger jammed a loose puck under Anderson's leg to give UBC a 1-0 lead just 49 seconds into the contest.

Halfway through the period, another T-Bird veteran forward added to UBC's lead. Chanreet Bassi executed a perfect mid-air deflection off Kailee Peppler's high point shot. Bassi's redirection fooled Scout Anderson and made it 2-0 for the visiting team.

Despite holding even on the shot clock, the Cougars went into the second period with a lot of work to do.

The Thunderbirds extended their lead to three with an outstanding goal from Madisyn Wiebe just a few minutes into the second. The UBC forward deked around a Mount Royal player before roofing a backhand shot into the top corner of the Cougars' net. 

Although the T-Birds were dominating the offensive game, they were struggling to stay out of the box. UBC was assessed a total of 16 penalty minutes on Friday. 

However, Mount Royal was not able to take advantage of their numerous powerplays. Forwards Athena Hauck and Jerzey Watteyne found themselves snakebitten, unable to put one by superstar netminder Elise Hugens.

"I think we did a good job of generating some opportunities. [UBC's] goaltender was exceptional today. They sacrified a lot today over there. They got in lanes and they were doing whatever it took to keep pucks away from their net," said Scott Rivett.

On a few powerplays of their own late in the period, UBC added a couple more goals to put the game far out of reach for MRU. Chanreet Bassi tallied her second goal of the night and Annalise Wong scored her third of the season.

A scoreless third period left the game at 5-0 for the Thunderbirds, despite the Cougars' best efforts to find the back of the net. 

Elise Hugens stopped all 21 shots she faced to record her fourth shutout of the year. 

Mount Royal and UBC will go head-to-head once again on Saturday afternoon at Flames Community Arenas. Tickets for the 4 p.m. puck drop can be purchased online and the game can be streamed live on Canada West TV – Powered by BioSteel.