Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
VANCOUVER – With lots of friends and family in attendance, Richmond, B.C. native Jennifer Andrash tied the game for the MacEwan Griffins women's hockey team early in the first period on Saturday night.
Unfortunately, that's all the Griffins' short-handed offence could muster in a 6-1 loss to the Thunderbirds as they were outshot 44-11 in a game they only had nine forwards and five blue-liners healthy and available for the contest.
Despite the score, assistant coach Izzy Cropper, who was running the bench this weekend with head coach Chris Leeming in New Brunswick with Team Alberta at the U18 women's hockey nationals, was pleased with the effort.
"I think you could see today we were a little tired at times and maybe we weren't moving quite as quick, but we were still quite happy with what the team showed," said Cropper. "We saw a lot of great things from every single player that was here this weekend.
"In spite of the scores from these two games, we feel really confident about the step we took as a team. Looking forward to getting back to work next week and getting ready for another really big test against the U of A."
With the result, the Griffins fell to 1-6-1 in the standings and will have some work to do to get into a playoff position in the Canada West East Division, sitting fifth. UBC is now 8-2-0, atop the West Division.
Karine Sandlands led UBC with two goals and an assist, while Jacquelyn Fleming, Sophia Gaskell and Mackenzie Kordic all had a goal and an assist.
Andrash provided the highlight of the night for the Griffins when she raced in and beat Mya Lucifora 3:49 into the contest.
"Jenny did what she's been doing for us all weekend," said Cropper. "She had some really good patience in our end and got her head up and just started flying. It was a great shot.
"She obviously was playing in her home province with lots of family here watching. I thought she played two really strong games this weekend and was a huge contributor to our energy in all areas of the game.
"It was nice to see her get that goal today for us. For a while there, that goal really had us in the game."
Lindsey Johnson made 38 saves for the Griffins, while Lucifora stopped 10 for UBC.
Next action for the Griffins is Nov. 8-9 as they enter a home-and-home series against cross-town rival Alberta.
