VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey team celebrated a 2-1 victory over the visiting Manitoba Bisons Friday, October 23 night, extending their winning streak to five games.

With the win, the Thunderbirds are now first in the Canada West with a record of 5-2-0, while the Bisons remain in seventh place (2-5-0).

In response to an early Bisons goal by Charity Price that was assisted by Nicole Carswell merely 1:51 into play, UBC rose to the challenge by potting back-to-back goals of their own, and then maintaining their one-goal lead for the remainder of the game to secure their win.

The Bisons' goal came shortly after puck drop when forward Carswell intercepted fourth-year forward Katie Zinn's pass in front of the Thunderbirds' net. The puck took an odd bounce off of the Manitoba forward's shin guard and she was able to control it enough to fire it over fifth-year goaltender Samantha Langford's glove for their first and only tally of the night for the visitors.

But UBC did not yield. Less than five minutes later, at 6:40, a scramble behind the net distracted both 'Birds and Bisons alike as the puck slipped out and fourth-years Nicole Saxvik and Stephanie Schaupmeyer pushed it to Rebecca Unrau, the T-Birds leading scorer. Unrau was able to slip the puck pass Manitoba netminder Rachel Dyck before she could react.

Less than three minutes later, Zinn notched the game-winning goal, making up for her earlier giveaway. Third-year defenceman Melissa Goodwin was taken down in front of the net, preoccupying the Bison defence and Dyck, allowing third-years Kathleen Cahoon and Devon Morrison to feed Zinn the puck.

The Thunderbirds killed off all five Bisons power plays, including a five-on-three at the end of the first.

Manitoba had two power plays in the final 10 minutes and also pulled Dyck, to give the team a man advantage three times.

The biggest chance for the Bisons came at 13:45, when second-year Logan Boyd was serving a penalty for body checking. The puck took an unexpected bounce out of UBC's zone and Manitoba got a breakaway. Fourth-year defenceman Kelly Murray tried to make it back as fast as she could, but Langford saved the T-Birds' lead with an incredible point-blank block. She gave up a rebound, but corralled the ensuing shot, too, ensuring the 2-1 lead would stand up.

The Thunderbirds and Bisons meet tomorrow for a Saturday matinee rematch. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. (PT) at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver.