VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds kicked off the home portion of their 2016 season by attacking the visiting UNBC Timberwolves from whistle to whistle in a 4-0 victory at Thunderbird Stadium. Four different T-Birds found the back of the net on the day, with three of the four goals coming off set pieces. The win gives the Thunderbirds two wins and a draw so far in 2016, while UNBC is still looking for its first points of the campaign with three losses in three games played.
 
"It was definitely nice to score a few goals," said UBC Head Coach Mike Mosher. "Although three of them were off set pieces, but that's always positive too. It shows some of the stuff we're working on we're starting to pull off."


 
UBC opened the scoring the 18th minute when Manpal Brar slammed a slick through ball by Zach Verhoven into the far left corner of the Timberwolves net.
 
In the 39th minute Titouan Chopin made a streaking, diagonal run into the UNBC 18-yard box and headed home a pinpoint Kerman Pannu free kick.  The tally made the score 2-0 UBC and the game was essentially out of reach for UNBC.

#UBC men's soccer leads #UNBC 2-0 at halftime at Thunderbird Stadium. #GoBirdsGo #YVR pic.twitter.com/dqQZDghrg6

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) September 3, 2016

 
UBC got their third goal in the 79th minute when super-sub Lucas Reis leapt high above the UNBC central defenders to nod Karn Phagura's pinpoint free kick up and over Timberwolves goalie Rob Goodey.
 
UBC captain Bryan Fong finished off the scoring for the T-Birds in the 82nd minute. The fifth-year central defender's forehead found the business end of a Luke Griffin corner kicked, slamming the ball off the Thunderbird Stadium turf and into the back of the net.


 
"I'm pretty happy about the goal," said Fong. "From strong defense comes a bunch of goals and we got the clean sheet."
 
Goodey was under siege all day in the UNBC net and did well to keep the score somewhat respectable as the T-Birds outshot the Timberwolves 15-0.
 
The only blemish on the day for UBC was a 28th minute collision between UNBC striker Cheona Edzerza and T-Bird goalie Chad Bush, which sent Bush to the locker room with a shoulder injury. Bush's injuries appeared minor as he was celebrating with his teammates after the win.

UBC and UNBC meet again Sunday at 1 PM at Thunderbird Stadium. The game will be available live on CanadaWest.TV. Until September 9 viewers can save 20% on single-sport and multi-sport season passes.