The Matchup
The UBC Thunderbirds get the 2017 Canada West season started with a bang this weekend with a pair of home games against two division rivals. The 'Birds host the Fraser Valley Cascades on Friday, August 25th at 6:30 p.m. PT and the Trinity Western Spartans on Saturday, August 26th at 6:30 p.m. PT, both at Thunderbird Stadium.
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It's a good test off the hop for the T-Birds to face last year's second and third place teams in the Canada West's Pacific division while beginning a quest to get back atop the conference podium after last season's silver medal finish.
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UBC features a drastically different roster for the second straight year while beginning a regular season without all star defenders
Bryan Fong and
Tyler Mertens for the first time in six years, but fans can get their first look at the new-look 'Birds which have one aim, that is to earn a national championship for the first time since 2013.
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Last Action
UBC dropped a pair of exhibition matches last week against the Simon Fraser Clan (2-0) and Seattle University (1-0).
The Cascades earned a 1-1 draw against the Clan in their final pre-season tune-up Saturday while the Spartans beat Seattle Pacific University 4-0 in their last pre-season contest over the weekend.
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By the Numbers
16 – The T-Birds have a 16-game undefeated streak at home in regular season play. The last time UBC lost a game on their own turf was October 10, 2014 in a 2-1 decision against Fraser Valley.
5 – UBC went undefeated against both the Cascades and Spartans last season posting a win and a draw against each with a combined goal differential of five.
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Player to Watch
Victory Shumbusho (F) – Just one of many new additions to the 'Birds this season, the 19 year-old striker is expected to add a significant offensive threat to UBC's attack. Immigrating to Canada from the Democratic Republic of Congo four years ago, Shumbusho joins the T-Birds from the Vancouver Whitecaps FC residency program. Â
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Coach's Take
Despite losing some key pieces from last year's squad while adding plenty of new faces, UBC head coach
Mike Mosher is confident in his team's preparedness to begin the season.
"These are big games right away, this weekend will have a pretty big impact on what the final standings might look like so we're right into the fire," said Mosher who enters his 22nd year at the helm.
"Fraser Valley lost quite a few players as well from this past year so they're working hard to establish their group and what they might look like but they always play us tough and they're competitive and well organized. Trinity was right there with us through the whole season last year and they have a pretty strong returning core so they should be in pretty good shape moving forward."
While Mosher continues to focus on shaping the growth of his squad, a pair of wins against two tough division opponents is top of mind for this weekend.
"Our goal is always to come first in our division and this year if we can do that it hopefully sets us up with an opportunity to host Canada West final four and that comes about by winning against divisional opponents," said Mosher.
"But we also know what our team looks like on August 25
th, hopefully we're a heck of a lot better by October 25th. That's the goal, to get points on the way but get better week after week."
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