VANCOUVER -
Mike Mosher has coached many highly talented teams in his 17 years at the helm of the UBC men's soccer program, but last season's undefeated national title-winning squad stands out as a special group even for him.
"Usually even with a good team, there's some weakness or Achilles' heel you are trying to cover up and hide, but with that group there really just wasn't much," said Mosher.
Led by electrifying playmaker and Canada West MVP Gagandeep Dosanjh, the 'Birds cruised through the regular season at 11-0-3, leading the the conference with 49 goals for and nine against, before turning things up yet another notch in the playoffs to go 5-0 with 13 goals scored and one against.
"The group was very self-motivating, and a few difficult losses in previous years created that motivation," Mosher said. "A loss in the finals in 2010 when we were right there, and good enough to win it. And the next year, a loss in the Canada West final with only one berth available, on a 90th-minute goal against the run of play. So I think the group was experienced and motivated enough that they were going to leave nothing to chance."
But with that special year now in the rearview mirror, the challenge becomes motivating a new group of leaders to step into the shoes of the graduating class. Along with Dosanjh, the 'Birds lose senior midfielders
Brandon Bonifacio,
Marco Visintin and
Devin Gunenc, as well as
Steve Johnson from the starting back line and striker
Sean Haley.
"Marco, Brandon and Devin were our three captains, and each brought something different to the leadership table. Sean was a great depth player and Steve was great for us in the playoffs and at nationals, and Gagan was arguably the best player in the country, so certainly some tough pieces to replace."
Fortunately, Mosher won't have to look too far for replacements with such a deep talent pool already in the program. Most of the vacant spots will likely be filled by returning players like fifth-years
Reynold Stewart,
Greg Smith or
Milad Mehrabi, who each scored five goals last season, but the one new face likely to make the biggest impact will be hard to miss.
"Every year is a bit different with losing and adding players, and our case is an interesting one this year. We lose a 5-foot-5 speedster in Gagan, and add a 6-foot-4 tank in
Niall Cousens, so there's different ways to score goals and Niall can certainly play. He's just different from Gagan, but I think he'll be a real threat."
Cousens played professionally in the Czech Republic for three years before returning to Vancouver, where he has been playing for the Vancouver Whitecaps Under-23 squad. He's already put his height advantage to good use in the preseason, with two goals in two games, including a header finish in the team's final preseason game against Simon Fraser.
"We're set up well going forward with the likes of
Navid Mashinchi,
Kent O'Connor, Greg, Reynold and Niall. Milad and
Harry Lakhan are also poised to have good seasons, so that's a pretty darn good bunch of attacking players we can get goals from."
Mashinchi is a creative two-time All-Star midfielder in his fourth year.
Reynold Stewart is a fifth-year attacking midfielder, and Lakhan is a third-year. Mosher expects all three to be key contributors this season, with the potential for true breakout campaigns from any of them.
"All three will help provide offence and creativity for us, and if all was to go well, any of the three could be the player of the year in the conference," Mosher said. "They are that good. And there's a lot of great players in the conference, but if we have the kind of season we're looking to have, you could see big things from them."
The back line will be anchored by fifth-year three-time Canada West All-Star
Will Hyde, and fourth-year All-Star
Paul Clerc, who has flashed some impressive two-way talent with eight goals over the past two seasons. Starting alongside those two will be
Tyler Mertens, who is coming off a very strong freshman season in which he started 10 games, and
Bryan Fong, another second-year player who was slated for a bigger role last year before a nagging injury limited his time.
In goal it will be third and fourth-year keepers
Luke O'Shea and
Richard Meister battling for the lion's share of the playing time, though Mosher points out his team's impressive depth includes the keeper ranks as well, as
Chris Beck and
Ante Boskovic are both capable of stepping in between the pipes too.
Joining Cousens in the 2013 recruit class are defender
Luigi Polisi and midfielders
Mitchell Popadynetz and
Adriano Clemente, all freshmen.
"Those are three talented true freshman who missed the first week of training being at the Canada Games, playing tough games and getting good experience there. Now they've been with us for a few weeks and I'm really excited to see with what we've got in those guys in another couple of weeks once they have adjusted to the speed of play."
Another freshman,
Otis Sandhu, was also supposed to be at the Canada Games in Sherbrooke, Que., but suffered an ankle injury which has kept him out for most of training camp.
With talent and depth all over the park and an undefeated streak dating back to Nov. 6, 2011, Mosher says there's no reason to think his squad can't put together another memorable title run to become the first team to defend the CIS crown since Laurier in 2000 and 2001.
"With so many good players I do think we're strong enough to legitimately go and defend the title. Will we be undefeated? That's a tall order to repeat that, but we will score some goals and we're set up well to defend, and we're going to be a very tough team to defeat."
UBC will open the 2013 campaign on Friday, Sept. 6 against the University of Victoria Vikes at 7:15 p.m. The team's home opener will be on Sunday, Sept. 8 against the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades. Kick off on David Sidoo Field at Thunderbird Stadium is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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