EDMONTON –
Ryan Arthur scored twice, while
Jackson Farmer added a goal and an assist, as the No. 6 ranked UBC Thunderbirds trashed the Alberta Golden Bears 5-1 Sunday afternoon at Edmonton's Foote Field.
Four of UBC's goals came off set pieces, including all three of their tallies in the first half, as they earned their fifth win of the conference season (5-1-1). Along with Arthur and Farmer,
Victory Shumbusho and
Thomas Gardner also scored for the Thunderbirds, who outshot Alberta 20-4.
Lahai Mansaray scored the lone goal for the Bears (2-5-1), their only shot on target, as they dropped their fifth match in their last six games.
UBC showed off their finishing ability early and often in the first half, as they scored twice off free kicks, and once off a corner kick in the opening 45.
Arthur opened scoring in the ninth minute, heading in a gorgeous corner from
Sam Fletcher.
In their lone moment of offence, Mansaray potted his third goal of the season in the 11th, ripping in a half-volley from inside the UBC box.
Farmer scored his second of the season in the 35th to restore the UBC lead, as he soared in from the outside to head in a phenomenal cross from
Jordan Haynes on a Thunderbird free kick.
Arthur doubled the UBC lead seven minutes later, finishing off a Farmer corner kick in the 42
nd for his second goal of the game and third of the season.
Alberta never looked composed, and no combination of their 11 men on the field were able to regain momentum at Foote. After three shot attempts in the first, they mustered just one in the second 45.
Shumbusho potted his third of the season for UBC in the 59th, before Gardner put an exclamation point on a dominant UBC win in the 69th with his first of the season.
Now riding a three-game win streak having outscored the opposition by a combined 9-2, the T-Birds find themselves atop the Pacific Division. The 'Birds stay on the road next weekend as they head north to Prince George to face the UNBC Timberwolves Friday and Sunday.
