Blake Murphy Sports Writing

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds wrapped up their first run through the Canada West conference on Sunday with a 2-1 victory over the Victoria Vikes. The victory completed the two-game sweep of the Vikes, spoiling their homecoming weekend.Following up on a 4-1 Saturday victory, the Thunderbirds came out pressuring early and commanded the play. In the 22nd minute, midfielder Natalie Sourisseau (Kelowna, BC) got the team on the board. Sourisseau is one of several Thunderbird players who just re-joined the team after missing the Calgary series to play for team Canada in the Pan American Junior Championships.

Team Canada teammate Poonam Sandhu (Vancouver, BC) fed Katherine Gillis (Toronto, BC) just ten minutes later, who dished to Sourisseau for her second of the game, expanding the UBC lead and putting UVIC on their heels for the second straight day.

The Vikes added a tally in the 70th minute off of a penalty corner goal by Andrea Jones, but goalkeeper Bea Francisco (Richmond, BC) otherwise shut the door to contain the one goal lead.

The team is understandably pleased with the 4-0 start, but are more importantly excited that their game plan is beginning to materialize in the on-field results.

“It was a really good weekend,” said assistant coach Kimo Linders. “It was interesting. We were surprised by their transition speed. Since our strategy is to push it forward, it sometimes leaves gaps in the back, which they tried to exploit. It was good for us to learn from that.”

The Thunderbirds are getting a reputation as an energetic and difficult opponent, which was evident throughout the weekend as they consistently maintained pressure on the Vikes’ defence.

“It was a very attacking and fast-paced game, which we like to emphasize,” Linders explained. “It was very mature hockey.”

The win moves the Thunderbirds to a perfect 4-0 record while dropping Victoria to 2-2, after both teams had previously swept series with Calgary. UBC will play both Victoria and Calgary twice more each, looking to further expand their commanding division lead. After a weekend off, the Thunderbirds will head to Calgary next and wrap up at home against the Vikes.