VANCOUVER - The first-place UBC Thunderbirds (6-1-2) return home this weekend to the friendly confines of Thunderbird Stadium to host the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack (3-3-4) on Friday, October 4 at 6:30 p.m. PT and the rival UBC Okanagan Heat (6-4-2) on Sunday, October 6 at 1:00 p.m. PT.
UBC holds the top spot in the Canada West Pacific division with a 0.741 winning percentage, however the Heat have the same number of points (20) with three more games played and occupy the fourth and final playoff berth in a tightly contested division. With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, TRU is on the outside looking in with their 0.433 winning percentage good for fifth thus far.
Last Action
The T-Birds were up north for a two-game series with the UNBC Timberwolves and earned a 2-1 comeback win on night one thanks to second-half goals by Victory Shumbusho and Kerman Pannu. UBC outshot the Timberwolves 20 to 4 and recorded 14 shots on goal, while UNBC's lone shot on goal in the first half resulted in Stu Rowlands fifth marker of the season. On the second night of action in Prince George, the home team picked up their level of play and fought to a 0-0 draw despite a number of chances on both sides. Jason Roberts made seven saves on the weekend and picked up his third clean sheet to improve his conference-best goals against average of 0.89.
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TRU split their two-game homestand last weekend, getting shut out 3-0 by the Trinity Western Spartans (6-4) before edging the UFV Cascades (3-4-4) 3-2. UBCO played to a 0-0 draw with UFV in Kelowna and lost to the Spartans 2-1 the following afternoon.Â
Coach's Take
UBC head coach Mike Mosher knows the value of each match down the stretch of the regular season.
"It is that time of year when the games seem to come quickly each week and everyone is desperate for points and jockeying for positions," said Mosher." TRU and UBCO both present different challenges that we need to be ready for. We can also look to help ourselves by being more ruthless in taking our chances, especially earlier in games."
Mosher is looking forward to playing on home turf for the first time since September 14.
"it was certainly a different schedule for us this year and it will be nice to get to play at home this weekend," said Mosher. "We get to play four of our final six games at Thunderbird Stadium after seven of our first nine games away. Hopefully this can help us to gain some momentum with playoffs not far away now."
