The UBC men's soccer program is looking forward to hosting the upcoming 2018 U SPORTS National Men's Soccer Championship beginning Thursday, November 8 thru Sunday, November 11 at Thunderbird Stadium.
 
A total of eight teams will be descending on the Point Grey campus all with the intentions of lifting the Sam Davidson Memorial Trophy, awarded to the top men's soccer team in the nation come Sunday afternoon.
 
There has been a longstanding tradition of excellence surrounding soccer at UBC which sees the Thunderbirds recognized as the most successful program in Canadian University history. T-Birds men's soccer has won a total of 13 National Championships which is eight more than any other school. The 'Birds will look to add to that impressive tally while hosting the National tournament this week and are in good form coming in having completed yet another successful season in defending their Canada West Championship title on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over the Trinity Western Spartans. It counts as the T-Birds 19^th overall Conference title and sixth in the last nine seasons as this year's squad hopes to be peaking at the right time.
 
As we get set to welcome Canadian collegiate soccer's best to the west coast we thought we'd take the chance to honour the T-Birds rich men's soccer tradition by highlighting all 13 past National title winning squads. We begin with the inaugural Champions in 1974 and count up to the most recent winners in 2013.

1974

1974 T-Birds squad was led by legendary coach Joe Johnson who had been in the position since 1961 and during his time had taken the program to the next level. Johnson, a native of Scotland was previously an outstanding athlete and star soccer player having played professionally with the Glasgow Rangers from 1946 until 1955. Johnson's passion for the game was infectious to his players, the former pro did not incorporate the sophisticated systems of today but proved to be more of a lead by example and motivational type presence.
 
The 1974 team was led by Canadian international goalkeeper Greg Weber, an experienced back four of Phil Sanford, Roy Zuyderduyn, Bob Baker and Terry Thompson. Moving up the pitch it was Daryl Sampson in the middle of the midfield (probably the best player in Canadian university soccer that fall), and Brian Budd at center forward (3-time winner of the World Superstars competition on ABC TV).
 
After an undefeated tour of Colorado and Northern California in October, the T-Birds won the Canada West tournament (there was no league at that time) on its home turf.  The finals were hosted by Loyola College (now merged with Concordia University) in very cold weather on a small, bumpy, hard pitch in West Montreal.
 
UBC beat Dalhousie 1 - 0 on a lovely shot from distance by Daryl Sampson and went through to the final game against Loyola.  UBC took the lead on a goal in the first-half from Ray Webster, then gave up a tying goal in the second half.  Late in the game, after a number of near misses by the 'Birds, Brian Budd scored another goal from distance and UBC held on to win 2 – 1 and claim their first of 13 National titles.

1984

UBC's second National Championship was also claimed out east in Ottawa, Ontario exactly 10 years after their inaugural triumph in Montreal. There was still no tournament play in the early 80's so the T-Birds road to gold included some travel, beginning with 1-0 win at McGill that saw T-Birds goalkeeper Brian Kennedy as the difference on the day in making some clutch saves. The second-best highlight of the trip included coach Johnson securing sought after standing room tickets to a marquee NHL rivalry matchup between the Montreal Canadians and Boston Bruins at the legendary Montreal Forum. With the 'Birds still buzzing from that experience the boys moved onto Ottawa where the temperature was minus 25 and went into hostile territory in front of over 700 Ravens fans at Carleton stadium and grinded out a 2-1 victory in penalty kicks.

1985

The 'Birds went undefeated in 1985 ahead of hosting the National Championship final against the Concordia Stingers on their home pitch of Todd Field which was ringed with boisterous fans three to four deep along the sidelines. Once again T-Birds goalkeeper Brian Kennedy was a huge difference maker in a drama filled game that saw him save three penalties in a row against the same Concordia player after the referee claimed he moved early off his line on the first two attempts. Those epic saves proved to secure a second consecutive National title with the same score and circumstances as a year earlier, a 2-1 UBC win in penalties to claim a third National Championship on home soil. This was a bitter sweet victory as it would prove to be coach Joe Johnson's last at UBC, due to his being 65 years of age he was required to retire as per university rules at the time. Johnson would leave after 25 great years in the role, along the way setting a new standard of success and expectation for the program while building a foundation for the many championships that would follow. Johnson had no doubt left a permanent imprint on the T-Birds and the young men who played for him. Johnson would leave as a champion before passing away one year later.

1986

The 1986 season saw a familiar face welcomed back to the fold as former T-Birds striker from 1963-1966 Dick Mosher was named the new head coach after being a professor in the Physical Education department since 1975. The future UBC Hall of Famer would go on to coach the men's team for nine seasons while leading his squads to six more National titles.
 
The 1986 team enjoyed a dominant undefeated regular season which saw them concede just one goal en route to booking their ticket to Nationals in Toronto. The conditions where very cold at the old Varsity Stadium but the 'Birds were undeterred in shutting out McGill 3-0 in the semi-final with some players forced to wear running shoes because the field was frozen and their soccer boots would not find a grip. The next day the T-Birds found themselves in the final against the host University of Toronto Varsity Blues and true to their regular season form the visitors were stingy in not allowing a goal while Alex Percy got on the end of two well delivered corner kicks to score two of the four goals in the 4-0 victory. Percy would win the MVP award while Dick Mosher kicked off his inaugural season on the sideline in style.

1989

The T-Birds went undefeated (12-0-1) in the regular season en route to winning a fourth National Championship to close out the decade on home field at Thunderbird Stadium. UBC met a grueling schedule that saw them play three games in three days beginning with a last minute 1-0 victory over McGill. What followed was another nail biter in the form of a 2-1 double overtime semifinal win against the Laurentian Voyageurs where Neil Wilkinson played hero scoring the winning goal in the third minute of the second OT. The final saw another tight contest decided by Ron Village scoring the lone goal in the 31^st minute while goalkeeper Rob Zambrano earned the clean sheet in a 1-0 win over the Saint Mary's Huskies. Young T-Birds defender Mike Mosher was named tournament most valuable player, just one of many more highlights to come for Mosher with the program.

 

1990

The 'Birds kicked off the new decade the same way they finished off the previous one with yet another Championship celebration. There was no tournament in 1990 so the semifinal and final where held on opposite sides of the Country. The T-Birds took care of business in the semis getting past a strong University of Toronto team in overtime before heading east to face the Guelph Gryphons on their home park in the final. The T-Birds got off to an ominous start in Guelph conceding an early penalty to go down 1-0 but the 'Birds bounced back shortly thereafter with an equalizing effort from Neil Wilkinson to go into halftime at 1-1. Midway through the second half T-Birds forward Rob Reed scored the go-ahead marker to take a lead the visitors would not relinquish en route to securing a 2-1 victory and a second straight National Championship crown.




 

1991

The 1991 UBC squad pulled out some late results en route to the National final held at Queen's University in less than ideal temperatures. The T-Birds tied the Laurentian Voyageurs 2-2 in their first game of the round robin, setting up a must-win against the McGill Redmen the following day. Rick Celebrini scored the lone goal against the Redmen with just seven minutes remaining to advance to the final against the McMaster Marauders. In the final, in front of over 300 chilled fans at Richardson Stadium the T-Birds fell behind early but not long after a fine individual effort from Randy Celibrini tied things at 1-1 going into the half. On the other side, it was Neil Wilkinson converting on a penalty kick in the 75^th minute followed not long after by a Rob Reed insurance marker helping the T-Birds to a 3-1 win over McMaster while claiming a third National title in a row and a sixth in the last eight years.
 

1992

The 1992 version of the T-Birds saw a totally revamped roster compared to the nucleus of previous seasons and was led by interim coach David Partridge (current UBC assistant coach), as head coach Dick Mosher was on a sabbatical year. The tournament was held in Guelph and UBC would find themselves kicking off against the McMaster Marauders for a second straight year. It would turn out to be the same outcome as UBC would pull out the 3-2 win in extra time thanks to goals from Doug Schultz and two other markers courtesy of Kevin Hearne including the game winner. It would be the T-Birds fourth straight National Championship victory and Tom Kim was named tournament MVP and also recognized as that years Bobby Gaul award winner which recognizes the UBC male graduating athlete of the year.
 

1994

Head coach Dick Mosher was back in the fold for 1994 and undertaking his first year as head coach of both the men's and women's teams and led both to unbeaten Canada West seasons. While Dad went with the women's team to Edmonton for Nationals, son Mike Mosher who was a graduate student assistant coach at the time guided the No. 1 ranked men's team in the tournament hosted at UBC.

The T-Birds had a talented roster that included goalkeeper Pat Onstad who would be named tournament MVP along with fellow Canadian youth players Nico Berg and Chris Franks to name a few. The T-Birds dominated the tournament on home soil with 3-0 wins in pool play over St. FX and McMaster. The team then tuned up Alberta in the final at a rain-drenched O.J. Todd Field scoring three goals in the opening 20 minutes and cruising to an eventual 5-0 win and a ninth National Championship for the school coming exactly 20 years after their first title. Chris Franks scored two early goals while Troy Woods, Craig Chiasson and Dave Fiovento rounded out the markers for the hosts who had laid claim to an eighth National title in 11 years from 1984 to 1994.
 
The 'Birds dominant run and elite program was summed up by this quote from a member of the Laurentian coaching staff.
 
"The best team in the country is UBC, the second-best team is the players who get cut from UBC and the third-best is the players who don't even try out because they know they would get cut."

2005

After going 11 years without a championship the 2005 version of the T-Birds would return the blue and gold back to glory in Prince Edward Island. The T-Birds entered the tournament ranked No. 3 in the country after a 7-3-2 regular season and defeated the hosts 1-0 in the semifinal. In the final UBC received goals from Michael Elliot and the winner from Niko Marcina on a late penalty kick game winner to claim the programs 10^th National title in Charlottetown. Jonathan Poli was named tournament MVP while with the three wins in this year's tourney, the T-Birds overall record in the event improved to 28-3-1. This was Mike Mosher's fifth National title win and very first as a head coach. He won three as a player and one as an assistant (94)


 

2007

The T-Birds took the crown in dramatic fashion in 2007 while hosting on home soil at UBC. In the semifinal, the 'Birds downed York University 2-1 in overtime thanks to an impressively executed bicycle kick from Ben Hunt. In the final against Laval it was Graham Smith who opened the scoring in the 23^rd minute and with the game tied late in the second half it was Steve Frazao who scored the game winner in the 82^nd minute. It was UBC's 11^th title win and head coach Mike Mosher still refers to it as one of the most exciting university soccer games he has been a part of. Graham Smith was named the tournament MVP.

2012

The 2012 season was special for UBC as the team did not suffer one single setback, winning every time they hit the pitch, marking the team's first undefeated national championship-winning season since 1994, the year of Mike Mosher's first CIS title. The tournament was held at Laval University in Quebec and the T-Birds entered in top form cruising to a convincing 4-0 win over UNB in the quarterfinal followed by a 3-0 victory over hosts Laval. In the final, it was game MVP Steve Johnson's header in the eighth minute that sealed the 1-0 win over the Cape Breton Capers and the 12^th title in program history. UBC dominated throughout the tournament outscoring their opponents 8-0 in total to become the first team in four years to shutout every team it faced at the CIS championship. UBC's Gagandeep Dosanjh was named tournament MVP after scoring four goals which added to his trophy case having already been named the Canada West player of the year. Coach Mosher would claim this team was as good as any championship team he'd been a part of.



  

2013

The 2013 group was a character group that overcame the loss of several key players from the previous year's championships. Couple that with the fact the squad had to deal with several key injuries including to captain Will Hyde at the start of the season and then Canada West player of the year Reynold Stewart who went down the day before the first game at nationals with a back injury. The tournament was held in New Brunswick and UBC opened with a slim 1-0 win over a tough Montreal team in the quarter final thanks to a goal from current 'Bird Sean Einarsson. Next up was another difficult 2-1 decision over York to advance to the final which saw the T-Birds erase a 1-0 first have deficit, scoring three goals in the second half to get past Laval 3-1. Niall Cousens was named tournament MVP as UBC defended their National championship from the previous year while counting a record 13^th title for the program.
 
 
 
It's been five years since the 'Birds last hoisted the National championship trophy and they look to change that this season by adding to their longstanding tradition of excellence while hosting the tournament this week and going in search of a 14^th title. The tournament begins on Thursday, November 8, and runs through Sunday, November 11. The No. 3 ranked T-Birds open tournament play on Thursday evening with quarterfinal action against Carleton with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff at Thunderbird Stadium.

For a tournament schedule and to buy tickets click below:

https://gothunderbirds.ca/sports/2018/9/14/mens-soccer-nationals-2018.aspx