VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds Men's Soccer team saw their three game win streak snapped with a 1-0 loss to the number seven ranked Mount Royal Cougars Saturday afternoon in Calgary.

In a rematch of last season's Canada West semifinal that saw the T-Birds advance with a 1-0 overtime win over MRU, the Cougars got some semblance of revenge with Mohammed El Gandour's goal in the 20^th minute, the only marker of the game.

"We knew it would be a battle and it was exactly that, they have a good team," said UBC Head Coach, Mike Mosher. "They came at us strong early and we had our moments, more in the second half, but we needed to get more from the possession we had. We didn't create enough decent chances."



The T-Birds (3-2) had the edge in shot attempts (13-7), and shots on goal (4-3) while amassing seven corner kicks to MRU's zero, but the four-time defending Canada West champions were just unable to find the back of the net.

The lone goal from El Gandour saw the fourth-year forward sprint up the pitch, past UBC's defence before hammering a ball from 25 yards out. His power behind the kick couldn't be stopped by Axel Thulin Lennselius.

The Thunderbirds were unable to find the scoresheet this afternoon but kept the Cougars (5-0-1) on their toes the entire time.



T-Birds midfielder Logan Chung held control in centre field and forced MRU to change their plan of attack throughout the match. He also provided his teammates with multiple scoring opportunities but luck wasn't on their side.

Sterling Kerr earned the clean sheet and the win for the Cougars who remain atop the prairie division with their fourth straight win.

The T-Birds will look to rebound and make it a .500 road trip when they battle the 2-2-2 Calgary Dinos Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is set for 1:15 p.m. PT and the game will be streamed live on Canada West TV.