Tiffany Chiu was on the forecheck when she heard her name called from the stands for the first time.
鈥淲ay to go, Tiff,鈥� shouted an anonymous voice in the crowd of 1,002 at Thunderbird Sports Centre as the T-Birds hosted the national hockey team from China before UBC won 4-1 on Oct. 17.
鈥淏eing on the ice was enough for me to be a little in awe, then seeing all those people waving the China and Canada flags 鈥� that was cool,鈥� said Chiu, a first-year red-shirt player whose parents immigrated from Hong Kong, which spurred her call-up to the exhibition game as UBC hosted China in their first stop on a cross-country tour through the home of hockey.
鈥淚t never really occurred to me that China had such strong hockey players until a month ago,鈥� said Chiu. 鈥淚t was cool to see how China is trying to develop their team and how it could really pay off for them.鈥�
Beijing will hold the Winter Games in 2022, making it the only city in the world to host both the summer and winter Olympics.
The national women鈥檚 team, the 鈥淟ady Dragons,鈥� began their Harmony Through Hockey series in the Lower Mainland with four exhibition games. Ranked 15th in the world, they started their tour against UBC, the no. 2 ranked women鈥檚 university team in Canada.
Opening scoring for UBC, second-year forward Mathea Fischer notched two goals in the first period with both assists coming from Shiayli Toni. Chiu is also credited with an assist and, in net, rookie Amelia Boughn picked up the win with 13 saves. The T-Birds had 35 shots but were scoreless on four power plays.
UBC head coach Graham Thomas said China could help elevate international competition in the women鈥檚 game.
"They have some high-end players and their goaltenders played well and I think they were happy with the competition they got," he said. "It was a success for our team and their team and for women's hockey."
The growth of the Chinese game could include Chiu, who started playing hockey in a boys league and most recently competed for the Greater 麻豆传媒映画Comets. The 18-year-old graduate of Crofton House said the visiting coaches implied she could have a future skating for China.
鈥淚f the opportunity arose, then yes, I think I would because I want to ride out my hockey career because I enjoy it so much,鈥� she said.
To add a highlight sheen to her already polished night, Chiu scored the lone T-Bird goal in a three-round, just-for-fun shoot-out to cap off the night.
鈥淚 won鈥檛 forget that goal at the end,鈥� she said.
Chiu was the only T-Bird to score. The forward went to the move she loves best and dangled the puck at the top of the crease before stopping in her tracks to bury a shot across the face of the net.
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鈥淓ven looking back, I鈥檓 still feel like it鈥檚 a dream," said Chiu.
"Graham had to choose three shooters, I was the last shooter and since china went fist, I was the very last person to go. Our first attempts didn鈥檛 score and two of China鈥檚 players had scored, so I had some pressure to score even though we wouldn鈥檛 win the shoot, I had to redeem us.
鈥淚 did my go-to move, which I practise a lot. I鈥檓 glad it paid off."
The science student will return to red-shirting.
鈥淭ypically, every home game I鈥檓 in the stands. Skating around before the game, seeing all those people there was insane.鈥�
This is the fourth time in three seasons the Thunderbirds have played a national women鈥檚 team. UBC has faced off against Japan, Kazakhstan, the Czech Republic and now China.听
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