VANCOUVER – The chase for a fifth consecutive Canada West championship continues this weekend for the UBC Thunderbirds. Thunderbird Stadium will be a hub of activity as the top-ranked Thunderbirds welcome Alberta, Calgary and Mount Royal for the Canada West Men's Final Four. Whoever emerges with the Canada West Gold Medal will also punch their ticket to the National Championship which will take place the following weekend in Kamloops, B.C.


 
"Coming first and being able to host is important to us. We're comfortable at home. We play well at home," said Mike Mosher, who took a lot of positives away from their 4-2 quarter-final triumph over Saskatchewan. "I loved our response. We scored early, Saskatchewan answered, but we remained calm and banged off three more goals in the first half, and it could have been more. Dealing with some adversity and having that previous playoff experience paid off for us."
 
Last Saturday against Saskatchewan, the blue and gold were powered by a three-goal, four-point performance from veteran forward Victory Shumbusho. Shumbusho's dominance has been on full display in recent weeks. The fifth-year forward has compiled 11 goals and two assists for 13 points over a span of 10 matches dating back to September 25^th against Saskatchewan.


 
The next challenge for UBC: The University of Alberta, a foe that UBC hasn't faced in a game since a 1-0 quarter-final playoff victory back on October 25, 2019.
 
"We've seen them on video and we're doing a deep dive on what to expect from them. They've been a pretty resilient group this year. I expect a good opponent and it won't be an easy game for us by any means," claimed Mike Mosher who feels like his team is well positioned this weekend with only one National championships berth on the line. "This is not unlike any other weekend where you're facing two different opponents over the course of a weekend. I'm all about 'one game at a time' and in this instance we've seen both MRU and Calgary once so far. So that does make preparation a little bit easier anyway."
 
Whomever leaves UBC with the Canada West championship this weekend will then head off to Kamloops to compete in the 2022 National Championship tournament. Because Thompson Rivers University is hosting next week's festivities, only the winner this weekend at UBC will advance to nationals.


 
UBC's semi-final tilt with Alberta is scheduled for 2:00 pm on Sataurday afternoon at Thunderbird Stadium. Tickets for all matches this weekend can found here. All games can also be viewed live on Canada West TV.