VANCOUVER – Despite missing out on a coveted third straight CIS championship last season, the UBC Thunderbirds men's soccer team continues to be perennial CIS championship contenders each and every season. Now facing the adversity of losing the majority of its core players, the T-Birds will rely on a number of additions and young stars to continue carrying the torch.
 
The Thunderbirds begin their season at home on Saturday, September 5 against the University of Victoria Vikes, which earned the No. 2 ranking in the Canada West Preseason Poll. The season opener kicks off at 5 p.m. PT at David Sidoo Field at Thunderbird Stadium.
 
"There's no better test than playing an opponent like Victoria to begin the season," added UBC head coach Mike Mosher. "We've had a strong three weeks to end the summer and every week the team has developed and improved as the group continues to gel."
 
The Thunderbirds will then travel to Seattle for an exhibition game against the University of Washington Huskies, members of the NCAA Division I Pacific-12 conference.
 
With just a 12-game season, the Thunderbirds play a home-and-away with the University of Victoria, Thompson Rivers University, UBC Okanagan, the University of Fraser Valley and Trinity Western. UBC will also travel to Prince George for a two-game away series against the University of North British Columbia, which will mark the halfway point in the season.
 
With a combined conference record of 32-3-4 over its past three seasons, including two CIS championship titles, it should come as no surprise that the Thunderbirds enter the 2015 season as the No. 1 ranked team in the Canada West Preseason Poll. And understandably so, as the squad adds striker Justin Wallace (Kamloops, B.C.), goalkeeper Chad Bush (Ottawa), and returns the 2012 CIS Championship MVP Gagan Dosanjh of Abbotsford, B.C.
 
Across the nation, the Thunderbirds are tagged with a No. 5 ranking in the CIS, with defending CIS champions York University being the early season favorites. Saskatchewan and Alberta are the only other Canada West institutions nationally ranked, checking in at No. 7 and No. 9, respectively.
 
"With Justin coming in and Gagan re-joining the team, those two can lead in the locker room, and on the field while helping our younger players along in their respective development," added Mosher after his team's final preseason game against Simon Fraser. "That duo is one of the best in the CIS in my opinion."
 
The UBC Thunderbirds are the most successful program in CIS men's soccer history, having won 13 Canadian University Sport national championships, nine more than any other program. Four of those titles have come under the tenure of current head coach Mike Mosher, who enters his 20th season at the helm of the program.
 
In 2014, the team looked to be destined for postseason success glory after starting the season on an eight-game winning streak before stumbling to a 1-2-1 record over the final four games heading into the Canada West playoffs. There, the Thunderbirds would lose in the Canada West semifinals against Alberta, losing out on a berth to the CIS Championship but defeated Victoria for Canada West bronze.
 
For this season, the most notable departures include the likes of 2014 Canada West MVP Navid Mashinchi, Milad Mehrabi, Paul Clerc, Canada West First Team All-Star Niall Cousens and all four of last season's rostered goalkeepers in Luke O'Shea, Chris Beck, Richard Meister, and Ante Boskovic. That crop of players includes three of the top five scorers from last season, with Sean Einarsson and Jules Chopin being the most prolific scorers returning to the field for 2015.
 
To replace the previous crop of goalkeepers, the team adds Bush, Aman Thind (Surrey, B.C.) and Jason Roberts (Richmond, B.C.), a redshirt freshman.
 
Just one of two Ontario players on the roster, Bush brings an extremely strong pedigree to the program, including being named the 2013 Goalkeeper of the Year in the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League. In doing so, Bush became the youngest player to win the award (just 19 years of age), en route to nine shutouts and a scintillating goals-against average of 0.014.
 
Originally recruited by the Duke Blue Devils out of high school, Bush comes to the University of British Columbia having most recently played for Ottawa Fury FC of the North American Soccer League for the 2014 season, whilst studying at the University of Ottawa.
 
Set to backup Bush in goal is Thind, one of four UBC freshmen out of the Surrey United FC program, and Roberts, who made his T-Birds debut playing the final 18 minutes of UBC's preseason win over Western Washington University in late August.
 
Arguably the team's most interesting addition, Dosanjh returns to the Thunderbirds program after a brief stint with FC Edmonton of the North American Soccer League. In his first tenure with the Thunderbirds between 2010 and 2012, Dosanjh scored 26 goals in 50 career games, was named the Canada West Most Valuable Player in 2012 and went on to win the CIS championship MVP the same season helping the T-Birds secure the Sam Davidson Memorial Trophy. Despite Dosanjh's departure in 2012, the team would repeat as CIS champions in 2013.
 
Joining Dosanjh in the attack will be a trio of freshman in Titouan Chopin (Burnaby, B.C.), a product of the Whitecaps residency program, Luke Griffin (Coquitlam, B.C.) and redshirt freshman Michael Mauro (West Vancouver, B.C.) in addition to second-year strikers Kyle Sohi (Surrey, B.C.) and Han Sol Kim (Seoul, South Korea). Sohi played in seven games last season as one of the most touted high-school prospects in BC, so expect the sophomore to challenge for a bigger role in the offensive end.
 
The addition of Wallace will shore up the Thunderbirds midfield as the 2013 CCAA Men's Soccer Player of the Year returns to the field after a one-year hiatus due in part to his transfer from Thompson Rivers University. During the 2013 campaign, Wallace led the Pacific Western Athletic Association in goals (12), accounting for 35 percent of his team's offence.
 
"Coming into this season, one of the most important goals was to gain respect from the guys, build chemistry and gain a certain level of comfort with the team," added Wallace. "Our preseason trip to Washington played a big part in getting to know everyone on and off the field and will certainly act as a building block for the regular season."
 
For the most part, the midfield core from year's past remains similar as the team returns, most notably, Canada West Second Team All-Star Sean Einarsson (White Rock, B.C.), Harry Lakhan (Surrey, B.C.) and Jules Chopin (Nelson, B.C.). Second year Boris Si (Vancouver) saw considerable playing time in his freshman season scoring a goal and two assists in 14 conference games, and will be joined by fellow sophomore Karn Phagura (Surrey, B.C.) at midfield.
 
Freshman Nike Azuma (North Vancouver, B.C.) and Kerman Pannu (Surrey, B.C.) also join the team for the 2015 season, with the remaining midfield roster spots going to third-years Luigi Polisi and Lucas Reis, both Port Moody, B.C., natives.
 
The backfield remains rock solid as the team returns Bryan Fong (Vancouver), Tyler Mertens (Port Coquitlam, B.C.), and Chris Serban (Calgary), all of whom will be relied on heavily throughout the season amongst a defensive group that includes three freshmen in Darren Rulofs (Surrey, B.C.), Manraj Bains (Surrey, B.C.), and Connor Guilherme (Unionville, Ont.), who redshirted last year.
 
Named to Team Canada for the 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea, Fong will look to repeat the success of his 2014 season where he was named a Canada West First Team All-Star, the only returning UBC player to have collected that honour.
 
And after a stellar rookie campaign where he collected CIS Rookie of the Year honours, Serban returns to the Thunderbirds squad after spending the summer with the Whitecaps FC 2, where he potted his first career professional goal against OKC Energy FC. Serban also was called up to the Canadian under-20 national team that competed at the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Jamaica.
 
Third years Adriano Clemente (Burnaby, B.C.) and Jacob Quail (Richmond, B.C.) are also in the mix and will compete for additional time on the pitch having played just a single game each last season.
 
The Canada West postseason begins on Saturday, October 31 with the top-two Canada West teams ultimately qualifying for the CIS Men's Soccer Championship November 12-15 at York University in Toronto.