The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds continued their hot play as of late as the team defeated the Winnipeg Wesmen 2-0 on Friday evening.

BOX SCORE

The defensively sound Thunderbirds kept its opponents off the board for the second straight game and took the victory thanks to tallies by midfielders Navid Mashinchi and Milad Mehrabi.
 
The No. 1-ranked Thunderbirds improve to 10-1-0 with the win and extend their winning streak to nine games. UBC widens its lead in the Canada West Pacific Division, and with three games remaining, sit at 30 points after Friday night's match.
 

UBC controlled much of the first half but other than a Wesmen header that found the crossbar courtesy of Miguel Fictoria, neither side could muster much offense until the 43rd minute where UBC broke the deadlock and took its first lead of the game.
 
Mashinchi buried his fifth goal of the campaign after getting his foot on the ball in a scramble in the penalty area. After several ricochets off Wesmen defenders inside the penalty area, UBC's Mehrabi was able to feed Mashinchi, who would not be denied.
 
Mid-way through the second half, Mehrabi was able to put the game out of reach when he wired one top corner from the edge of the 18-yard box beating a diving Tyson Farago in the 74th minute. Mashinchi collected his second point of the game with the assist. The goal was Mehrabi's league-leading ninth of the season and second point on the night.
 
Just before the final whistle sounded, the Thunderbirds had a scare as UBC goalkeeper Richard Meister went down in the 88th minute following a save off of Winnipeg's Amos Ganyea. Fortunately, Meister was able to brush it off and finish the match. The veteran Meister, who was rarely tested throughout the contest, collected the shutout in the victory making three saves in the process.
 
With the loss, Winnipeg falls to 3-5-3 and will travel to Langley Saturday night for a matchup against the Trinity Western Spartans, who sit at 2-6-1 after a victory against Mount Royal Friday night.
 
The Thunderbirds will be right back in action Saturday evening as they host Mt. Royal at 7 p.m. at David Sidoo Field at Thunderbird Stadium in the team's final home game of the regular season.

With a win a Saturday and a Victoria loss, the Thunderbirds would clinch first place in the Pacific Division and host the six-team Canada West Championship tournament starting Oct. 31.
 
-30-