The UBC Thunderbirds embark on some tough travel to open week three of the Canada West season with a couple of contests through the prairie division. Starting with a matchup against the Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday, September 15 at 11:00 a.m. PT before a quick turnaround to meet the University of Calgary Dinos on Sunday, September 16 for a 1:00 p.m. PT kickoff.
 
The T-Birds, who occupy first place in the Pacific Division will look to extend their three-game winning streak after securing six points last weekend which helped them improve by one spot in the rankings, up to number five overall on this week's U SPORTS top 10 list.

?? MSOC | Another @ubcmsoc rookie, another goal and it's 2-0! Taiyo Marzalik with his first as a T-Bird at 40' #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/DSKedfeL2T

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) September 9, 2018

 

Last Action

 
The 'Birds picked up back-to-back wins last weekend to improve to (3-0-1) on the young season beginning with a 2-0 victory over the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack on Friday night. On Saturday night UBC head coach Mike Mosher displayed his deep team depth with significant squad rotation that saw six new starters take the field en route to a 3-1 triumph over the UBC Okanagan Heat.
 
The T-Birds will face a well-rested (2-2-0) Saskatchewan squad who are coming off a bye weekend, their last action was a 2-1 home field win over MacEwan on Sunday, September 2. Meanwhile Calgary (1-3-0) hopes to bounce back at home after dropping a pair of 1-0 decisions on the road vs Alberta and MacEwan.

?? MSOC | Tommy Gardner! The rookie scores his second goal in as many games and gives @ubcmsoc a 1-0 lead over the @UBCOHeat 19 minutes in #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/6T8AC9q7Ay

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) September 9, 2018

Players to watch

Thomas Gardner (#26, M) – The first-year midfielder looked confident and poised in placing two free kicks from distance past opposing goalkeepers in back to back matches last weekend. Seemingly placing the ball exactly where he wanted to register his first two-goals of the season.
 
Kristian Yli-Hietanen (#17, F) – The fourth-year Arts student athlete scored his first goal of the season to seal a 3- victory against UBCO last Saturday. A 6-foot-1 forward that combines a mix of speed and power has seen action in all four games this season, starting in one while coming on as a threat off the bench in the other three.

 

Coach's Take

"I think the group is in a pretty good place right now, with several new faces in the squad I think we are starting to gel both on and off the field," said UBC head coach Mike Mosher. "I knew coming into the season we would have some real quality but part of the equation was how the pieces go best together. I think we are finding our way in that regard with more games under our belt. The key is to keep pushing and get better each and every week. Players need to perform as others are looking to take their spots and we have good healthy competition in the group."
 
Mosher added that he's expecting the travel weekend to take its toll.
 
"Canada West travel is never easy and it can take more out of a player than they realize, thus we need to take care of our bodies not only on the trip, but the days leading up to travel," continued Mosher. "We expect difficult and challenging games from both Saskatchewan and Calgary."