VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds clinched another Canada West Pacific Division title and the number one seeding for the upcoming playoffs with a dominant display at Thunderbird Stadium on Friday evening, turning in a clinical performance that saw them have 17 shots on goal, with 14 of them on target, as they ran out 7-0 victors against the visiting UBC Okanagan Heat.
A fast paced start saw goals from
Markus Kaiser,
Asvin Chauhan, and
Victory Shumbusho put UBC 3-0 up in the first 19 minutes, and there was no looking back from them after that. Shumbusho grabbed his second of the night at the start of the second half as UBC kept on the front foot and they didn't take it off the gas with substitutes
Sebastian Dzikowski grabbing a brace and
Tristan Nkoghe adding to the tally in the last 23 minutes for UBC's second seven goal performance this month.
"As with any team, we wanted to get at them early," a buoyant UBC head coach
Mike Mosher said after the match. "We've had success of late doing so. In some games we've scored a lot of goals, in others we've carried the balance of play. So good energy, good intensity right from the beginning and we got goals from them tonight which helped pave the way.
"I've said all the way along I've liked the way we've played, I've liked the way we've worked. In almost every game we've generated a decent number of opportunities and in a couple they just didn't fall for us. Now we're starting to really click and really finish, so let's hope it keeps going."
Kaiser got UBC off to the perfect start with a 30 yard rocket that beat UBCO goalkeeper Jaxon Scholfield all ends up just three minutes in.
Chauhan made it two just four minutes later when the Heat could only clear a
Thomas Gardner corner to the edge of the box and the first midfielder rifled home his fourth of the season.
Shumbusho had been lively in the early going and he got his reward in the 19th minute when
Logan Chung squared the ball to him seven yards out in front of the goal and he made no mistake in firing home.
The Heat had struggled to get a foothold on the game and could only muster one attempt on goal in the first half, a Jacobo Saenz Ramos effort that flew high and over.
Dante Zanetta's side would have been hoping to regroup and rebuild a game plan for the second half but any such plans were quickly derailed as Shumbusho grabbed his second on the night with a nice finish off a Chauhan ball just 28 seconds after the restart.
With Shumbusho and Chauhan making way, there was no respite for UBCO as their replacements added three more goals to the Thunderbirds tally.
Dzikowski made it five in the 67th minute before grabbing his second in the 76th. Nkoghe then headed home a seventh two minutes later from a corner that Scholfield just failed to keep from crossing the line to close out the scoring.
UBC are now unbeaten in six and their fourth straight victory coupled with the TRU Wolfpack's draw in Victoria saw the Thunderbirds clinch first place in the Pacific Division and the number one seeding for the Canada West playoffs that get underway next weekend.
The Wolfpack now head to Thunderbird Stadium Saturday evening for the final match of the regular season and they'll be facing a T-Birds side heading into the postseason in excellent form.
"It can be anything on any given day, but we're certainly in good form right now," Mosher mused. "But we've got to come and do it tomorrow. TRU are a very good team. They're preparing to play and host a national championship at home, so we've got to be ready to go and do the business tomorrow."
The Thunderbirds-Thompson Rivers match up goes at 7:00 p.m. PT on Saturday on what will be Senior Night for UBC. The Heat will head over to Vancouver Island for an end of season match-up with the University of Victoria Vikes.
