Currie's spectacular 48-save effort doesn't come with any run support in Griffins' 3-0 loss to UBC
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Team Stats
UBC
| Game Statistics | UBC | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| PowerPlays | 1 for 6 | 0 for 2 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 2 (4) | 6 (12) |
| Shots on Goal | 51 | 12 |
| Face Offs Won | 0 | 0 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – For much of Friday night's game, it seemed like the UBC Thunderbirds were enjoying an extended powerplay.
Shot after shot after shot was poured in towards MacEwan Griffins goaltender Taya Currie, who stopped 48 of 50 sent her way, finishing just two saves shy of the program record.
Currie's sizzling .960 save percentage in the contest still wasn't enough, though, as the Griffins failed to muster any sort of an offensive attack in a 3-0 loss that was sealed on an empty-netter with four seconds left.
"Taya is starting to solidify herself as one of the top goalies in Canada West based on her recent performances," said Griffins head coach Chris Leeming of his tender, who was also locked in last weekend, stopping 73 of 77 shots she faced in two starts at Manitoba.
"She just carried on the roll that she's on from last weekend – playing with lots of confidence – and she gave us an opportunity to stay in that game, for sure. Unfortunately, we weren't able to give her any run support throughout the 60 minutes."
The Griffins had just 12 shots on Elise Hugens, who earned her fifth shutout of the season without hardly breaking a sweat.
With the result, MacEwan was officially eliminated from a playoff spot, falling to 5-16-2, 11 points behind idle Trinity Western with just five games left.
UBC stretched its conference-leading record to 23-2-0 with the victory.
The T-Birds were all over the Griffins for most of the game, putting 51 shots on net, but probably had another 20-25 shots blocked. MacEwan's defence was unable to get much of a transition game going, but they were certainly locked in defending the zone.
"Despite giving up that many shots, there was still a lot of great stuff that happened in our D zone tonight," said Leeming. "I don't know how many blocks and secondary efforts we had to just get into shot lanes and clear pucks out.
"Taya did a great job making some big saves on a lot of opportunities there and she gives us confidence when she's in between the pipes for us."
Taya Currie gets just a skate blade on a one-timer in front to keep the game scoreless early in the second period. @MacEwanGriffins #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/4k90lRysby
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Hockey (@GriffinsWHKY) January 31, 2026
One of her best saves came early in the second period when she stretched out to get a toe on a one-timer right in front. The high volume of shots helped Currie stay sharp, too.
"I thought it was a fun game," said Currie, who improved her season-long save percentage to .933, while being the busiest goaltender in Canada West with a conference-leading 432 saves. "Our team had some blocked shots, which definitely kept us in it. I thought we stayed positive. I thought the bench energy was good."
It's debatable whether the first UBC goal should have counted, too, as it wasn't definitive whether the puck fully crossed the line when Jacqueline Fleming poked at a trickling puck off Ashton Thorpe's shot at 14:56 of the second period.
"All the girls that were on the ice said it didn't go in and the ref that was on the ice said it completely crossed the line," said Leeming.
Overhead views showed the puck partially crossing the line but not necessarily fully, although without the benefit of an overhead cam, the official's word on the matter was all that counted.
After two periods, the shots were 41-4 and it was only 1-0.
"Just keep going, build energy," said Currie what she was thinking with such a disparate shot clock. "Every shot matters. Control rebounds, putting them in the corners and just help the team."
The puck trickles towards the line on what would stand as UBC's opening goal of the game in the second period, but there was some disagreement whether or not the puck fully crossed the line (James Maclennan photo).
Eventually, UBC found an insurance marker when Karine Sandilands' blast from the slot at 10:22 of the third squeaked through blocker side on Currie, who caught a piece of it.
The Griffins pulled their goaltender with about four-and-a-half minutes left and even got a late powerplay, but they were still unable to muster much of an attack before Olivia Buckley hit the empty net with four seconds left.
The Griffins will certainly be looking to clean a few things up to try and generate more offence in Saturday's rematch (3 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).
"I think cleaner breakouts, sharpen up our pass execution," said Leeming. "There were a lot of moments in the game that we felt would have created opportunities, but they were a foot too far ahead or in somebody's feet – they were just off a little bit. Whether we were fighting the puck today or the passing game was little less than ideal, I think that killed our transition a little bit.
"Then hunting pucks a little bit harder in the O-zone to create some turnovers. We didn't have a ton of those on faceoffs and I think when we started to put pucks on their goalie and get to the net front, we had some opportunities to make some plays there.
"I think pass execution will fuel our transition game and hunting pucks in the O-zone a little bit harder would get us possession in the O-zone to put more pucks on net."
