The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER – In a matchup between two of the top four teams in the CIS, the No. 2-ranked UBC Thunderbirds prevailed Saturday evening by a score of 4-0 over the No. 4-ranked Alberta Golden Bears on David Sidoo Field at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver. The victory marks the Thunderbirds' sixth win in a row and the first loss of the season for Alberta.

BOX SCORE
 
Four different 'Birds got on the score sheet this evening as Sean Einarsson, Paul Clerc, Milab Mehrabi and Niall Cousens all had markers for a dominant UBC squad. Goalkeeper Chris Beck earned the shutout for the Thunderbirds, his second of the season.
 
The Thunderbirds opened strong, getting on the scoreboard in the eighth minute when Cousens, standing on the edge of the penalty area, redirected a long throw-in to first-year midfielder Sean Einarsson, who made no mistake in burying a shot past Alberta keeper Jay Vetsch. The tally was Einarsson's third of the season.
 
Clerc gave UBC a two-goal advantage going into the second half as the defender directed in a booming corner from Harry Lakhan in the 35th minute. The goal was Clerc's sixth of the season, which puts him atop the Canada West scoring race.
 
Alberta failed to muster much offence as the team was shut down by the Thunderbirds' strong defensive play. The Golden Bears best chance of the half went to first-year Ajay Khabra who nearly put away an acrobatic bicycle kick in the 27th minute. Beck made the necessary saves in the first half to keep the shutout in tact.
 
The Thunderbirds had a scare late in the first half when a tackle by Alberta's Marcus Johnstone took Lakhan down. Johnstone was given a yellow card on the play while Lakhan was able to brush off the tackle to remain in the game.
 
UBC wasted no time extending its lead to three in the early stages of the second half as veteran midfielder Mehrabi buried a Navid Mashinchi cross in the 48th minute for his fifth of the season.
 
Shortly after, Cousens rounded out the scoring by burying a volley from UBC defender Lakhan. The strike was his third of the year.
 
The Golden Bears' best chance of the second half came in the 87th minute when Mohammed Teliani nearly put away a header but again UBC keeper Beck stood tall, quickly moving to his right to deny the Alberta midfielder and preserve his clean sheet.
 
Late in regulation, Niko Saler put the Golden Bears a man down in the 90th minute after the defender argued a call that went in UBC's favour resulting in a red card.
 
UBC head coach Mike Mosher credits the early tally as crucial to setting the tone of the match.
 
"Alberta's a good team and we were good on the day coming away with the convincing victory and that's what I'm most concerned about," said Mosher. "The early goal put our team on its way to start the game and settled us in putting the pressure on the opponent."
 
With the win, the Thunderbirds improve to 7-1-0 on the season to remain atop the Canada West Pacific Division while the Golden Bears record stands at 4-1-2 after falling to UBC.
 
This weekend marks the halfway point of the Canada West regular season and Mosher notes that although the team sits in first in the Pacific division, the team can improve as the playoffs approach.
 
"We've done well but I think there's quite a bit of room for improvement at this stage," he said. "We got the two wins this weekend but there's some areas that we have to work on moving forward"
 
UBC travels to Prince George next weekend for a two-game series against the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves. UNBC currently sits in fourth place in the Canada West Pacific Division with a record of 1-3-2 after stealing a point from Fraser Valley in a draw Saturday evening. The games are scheduled for Oct. 5-6 with both kickoffs set for 12 noon Pacific.
 
Alberta will travel to Saskatoon for two matches against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Both games will start at 2:15 p.m. Central.

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