Following two straight road weekends to start the 2018 season, the No. 6 ranked UBC Thunderbirds (2-1-0) are finally set to host their home opener on Friday, September 14 when they welcome the Lethbridge Pronghorns (0-2-0) to Thunderbird Stadium.
The 'Birds will face their second Alberta foe in as many days when the Calgary Dinos pay a visit on Saturday, September 15.
UBC is looking for a bounce back after suffering their first loss of the season last Saturday to the No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans. The Pronghorns, meanwhile, are in search of their first win of the season after an 0-2 start while the Dinos are looking for consecutive wins for the first time this young season.
Kickoff for Friday's home opener is 6:30 p.m. PT with Saturday's match against Calgary also beginning at 6:30 p.m. PT, both at Thunderbird Stadium.
Last Action
The T-Birds earned an impressive 4-1 win over the Fraser Valley Cascades last Friday night before suffering a 4-1 defeat the following day in Langley against the Spartans.
Lethbridge remains the only team left in the Canada West yet to score a goal after suffering a pair of shutout losses at home last weekend to Mount Royal and Alberta.
Calgary lost their home opener last Saturday, 2-1 to the Pandas but answered back with a 1-0 victory over Mount Royal on Sunday.
Players to Watch
Danielle Steer (#17, F) – It's been quite the start to 2018 for the second-year forward who leads the entire conference with five points (2G, 3A), already more than half her entire total in 2017. Steer also leads the Canada West in both shots (10) and shots on goal (9).
Michelle Jang (#13, F) – The rookie's first Canada West goal was the game winner in last Friday's 4-1 win over the Cascades.
Coach's Take
While every point, especially in the competitive Pacific division, is important, UBC head coach
Jesse Symons says Saturday's loss in Langley may prove to be an important point of their young season.
"Sometimes dropping points is a good opportunity to learn and grow and we definitely got that on Saturday against Trinity to show we need to stick to our game plan and stick to the things we do well," said Symons now in his third season with the 'Birds. "If we continue to play at a level which we showed at times on Saturday and most of Friday, we'll be successful this year and cause teams a lot of troubles."
After three straight road games to start the season, the T-Birds are more than ready to take to their home turf.
"It's always great playing at Thunderbird stadium, the players love playing there and they're very excited," added Symons. "We're home for a couple weeks now and really getting into the season and it will help the girls get their schooling under their belts for a good routine."
Despite allowing four goals on Saturday, Symons views that as a defensive anomaly, especially considering UBC allowed just a single goal in their other two matches combined.
"I would actually say we gave Trinity those goals more than they created them, our team was actually in possession in three of the four. We're still pretty confident in controlling teams. Both Lethbridge and Calgary have some very good attacking players that we're going to have to manage and if anything it's made us even more excited to control those players this weekend."
