VANCOUVER - Victory Shumbusho and Logan Chung each scored two first-half goals to lead the UBC Thunderbirds to a convincing 7-2 win over the visiting University Of Victoria Vikes under sunny skies Saturday afternoon at Thunderbird Stadium.
 
The goals came early and often for the hosts beginning when fourth-year defender Daniel Kaiser drove a pass into the Victoria box that was bundled perfectly into the top corner by Shumbusho for the first UBC goal in the fifth minute.
 
It took 45 seconds for the 'Birds to double their lead, as Kaiser again found Chung who placed a perfect strike from 20 yards out past Vikes keeper Harjot Nijjar for a UBC 2-0 lead. 30 seconds later, Shumbusho converted his second of the game and UBC's third, as Mihai Hodut found him in the box and he deposited home his eighth of the season.


 
U-Vic had a good response through the middle of the first half, as rookie Dusan Mitrovic bested Kaiser inside the UBC half and his hard shot was well saved by Axel Thulin Lennselius in the Thunderbirds goal. Another good Vikes chance came from fifth year midfielder Nick Park, as he had a chance to shoot off a corner, but his angled effort was well blocked by UBC captain Daniel Kaiser.  

??MSOC | UBC extends their lead to 4-0 after some terrific work from Logan Chung. Chung has two. Victory Shumbusho has two. 'Birds are flying this afternoon at home.#GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/OMacpGyvOY

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) October 8, 2022

 
As the 40^th minute approached, Chung was able to put UBC ahead by four, after a crafty move past a visiting defender put him alone on Nijjar and he made no mistake, beating the keeper from eight-yards out and a 4-0 advantage.
 
Then on the stroke of half time, another fantastic save by Nijjar off a header from T-Birds defender Marcus Puhalj, came right back to the second-year player who scored his first Canada West goal to increase the T-Birds lead to 5-0.
 
"It was fantastic, we were hoping and anticipating one of those breakout scoring games, even some of the games we won we had left a few goals on the table." Said UBC coach Mike Mosher post-match about his team's strong offensive opening half. "Finally, the dam broke for us a little bit which was nice to see."
 
The second half began much like the first, as one of the four half time substitutes for the 'Birds Connor Mrazek headed in a tidy dead ball delivery from UBC rookie defender Eric Lajeunesse for the home sides sixth of the afternoon. Another milestone on the afternoon, as Mrazek notched his first goal in Canada West.


 
The Vikes were not to be denied though, as they broke quickly into the 'Birds half two minutes after the Puhalj goal. Lennselius made a great save off a tough shot from outside the Thunderbirds 18-yard box, but Hamish Ogden scored on the rebound to give Victoria some life to begin the second half. Ogden also collected his first in Canada West with that marker.
 
Then five minutes later, Javier Sagaste deflected effort found the net for Victoria and, making it 6-2 but with plenty of time left for the Vikes,
 
Another great look came again from the Vikes on 68 minutes, as substitute Harry Ritter West broke into the 'Birds half, and into the home side's box, but he put his shot agonizingly wide to the left of Lennselius in net.

??MSOC | A ?? from Tristan Nkoghe during stoppage time makes it a 7-2 score for UBC!#GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/f8DiiurjHk

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) October 8, 2022

 
However, a late goal from Tristan Nkoghe, who fired a perfect strike from outside the Vikes box into the top corner, would put the game officially out of reach at 7-2 in the 90^th minute.
 
"This was a must win game for us, I loved the response we had especially with the first half, and now we head out to the valley to play team's that are fighting for playoff spots in TWU and UFV, and those are never easy teams to play so it will be tough for us." Added Mosher following a three-game winless streak for the team, before heading on the road for two games.
 
With the win UBC improved to 6-3-2, while the Vikes fell to 2-6-4 on the Canada West  season that has just two weeks remaining. Both teams are on the road in the valley next weekend, as the 'Birds visit the UFV Cascades at 7:00 p.m. on Friday night, while Victoria visits the TWU Spartans at 7:15 p.m.