VANCOUVER - The No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds close out the home portion of their 2011 regular season by hosting the only two teams they have not beaten this year.
GAME TIMES
Friday, Oct. 21 - Alberta at No. 2 UBC (7:15 p.m. at Thunderbird Park, Vancouver)
Saturday, Oct. 22 - Saskatchewan at No. 2 UBC (7:15 p.m. at Thunderbird Park, Vancouver)
No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds
2011 conference record: 6-1-3 (1st)
2011 CIS ranking: 2
Last week: beat Fraser Valley 3-1, lost to Victoria 1-0
Streak: 1 loss
The T-Birds are no longer unbeaten, having suffered a 1-0 loss at Victoria last weekend, but still own the all-important top spot in the conference heading into the final two weeks of regular season play.
The top finisher in the regular season gets to host the conference playoffs, so the T-Birds will be fighting tooth and nail to hang on to their slim lead.
UBC also picked up a 3-1 win over Fraser Valley last weekend.
Marco Visintin (4th, Vancouver, BC) added his fourth goal of the year in just his sixth game, while
Navid Mashinchi (2nd, Port Moody, BC) moved into the team points lead with his third goal to go with four assists on the year. Former Canada West Rookie of the Year
Devin Gunenc (4th, North Vancouver, BC) scored his second of the season.
Alberta Golden Bears
2011 conference record: 5-2-3 (3rd)
2011 CIS ranking: -
Last week: beat Calgary 2-0, beat Lethbridge 3-0
Streak: 2 wins
The Bears should be brimming with confidence heading into the biggest game of their season so far. They posted back to back shutout wins last weekend against Calgary and Lethbridge and are now unbeaten in their last five games, pulling to within three points of first place UBC.
Whether or not they pull off a win this weekend, the blown two-goal lead from their last head-to-head tilt with the 'Birds now looms large. The Bears would be tied with the T-Birds heading into this weekend had they held that lead, but now they need some big results in their final four games to overtake them.
Three of those games are against three of Canada West's best teams though, so they will need their balanced attack to be at its best to finish the season.
Milan Timotijevic took over the team scoring lead with his fourth goal last weekend, and Brett Colvin scored two goals to become the fifth Bear with multiple goals to his credit this year.
Saskatchewan Huskies
2011 conference record: 4-4-2 (6th)
2011 CIS ranking: -
Last week: beat Lethbridge 3-0, lost to Calgary 1-0
Streak: 1 loss
The Huskies are still in the hunt for the Canada West Final Four, but a devastating 1-0 loss to Calgary last week made it a steep uphill climb. The Huskies beat Calgary 3-0 in their first tilt but last week's loss allowed the Dinos to leapfrog them in the standings.
The Huskies now need to gain three points of ground on fourth-place Trinity Western in addition to some help from Calgary's opponents if they want to see postseason action.
Like the Bears, they face three of the conference's toughest sides in the final weeks of the season, but their offence has shown the capability to be explosive, having scored three or more goals four times this year.
Canada West All Star Jerson Barandica-Hamilton lead the league with 10 goals last year and is leading the pack again in 2011 with six so far.
