VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds scored twice in each half while
Axel Thulin Lennselius earned his first Canada West clean sheet in goal in a convincing 4-0 win over the visiting Saskatchewan Huskies Sunday afternoon at a sunny Thunderbird Stadium.
The T-Birds pressed early and often, outshooting the Huskies (1-6-2) by a 14-1 margin in the first half alone, nine of those on target. It was a solid effort top to tail for the Thunderbirds (5-2-0) who have now won five of their last six Canada West matches and sit four points back of the division leading TRU WolfPack with two games in hand.
"You want to come out of the gates flying every time but today we wanted get after them, we wanted to set that tempo early on," said UBC Head Coach
Mike Mosher whose squad earned a third straight win against the Huskies dating back to 2018. "It took a while to score that first one, we had some chances and hit a post, but it was a good start and I'm quite happy certainly with the first half with how many chances we did generate. We're also always happy when there's a zero on the other side, clean sheets are important."
UBC nearly earned the game's first goal just shy of the nine minute mark when
Logan Chung played a nice through ball to
Victory Shumbusho whose low shot just missed wide of the far post.
Once again UBC had a prime opportunity to strike first in the 17
th minute when
Thomas Gardner took a free kick from 22 yards out. The veteran placed the ball over the Huskies' wall but a perfectly timed leaping save by Jaron Slopinski kept the match scoreless.
Gardner was given yet another chance on a free kick in the 25
th, with Slopinski forced to make another save, this time from 30 yards out. The ensuing free kick led to some chaos in the Huskies box with Saskatchewan's defenders unable to clear the ball. A Gardner shot was stopped by Slopinski but
Eric Lajeunesse picked up the rebound, held it patiently, worked around a defender and then flipped it into the net for his first career Canada West goal, and a beauty at that.
Just five minutes later the T-Birds doubled their lead when Shumbusho played the ball off a bounce with his right foot over Slopinki's challenge and into the far corner of the Huskies net. Gardner picked up the assist with an arcing pass from the touch line.
Saskatchewan never really posed any serious threat to the Thunderbirds' lead, forcing Thulin Lennselius to make just one save.
"He didn't have a lot to do but he helped us when we had possession of the ball," added Mosher. "His decisions and execution with the ball at his feet was quite good."
The score remained 2-0 until UBC scored twice within less than two minutes late in the second half.
Rookie midfielder
Asvin Chauhan raced down the left side with the ball and perfectly placed his shot into the top far corner in the 86
th minute, his second goal of the season.
Just over a minute later,
Tristan Nkoghe intercepted a pass near midfield and quickly played it up to
Sebastian Dzikowski who beat relief goalkeeper Taylor Smith for his second of the season and the proverbial icing on the cake.
"We've got quite a few weapons and you get guys like Asvin and Tristan and Sebby coming off the bench, and they got two of the goals," added Mosher of his team's offensive depth. "We do feel we can get at teams in a multitude of ways."
Improving to a perfect 3-0 at Thunderbird Stadium, the T-Birds will look to keep their home cooking going strong next weekend when they host the UNBC Timberwolves Friday and Saturday, September 30 and October 1.
The Huskies are back on the road again next weekend with a trip to Edmonton to face the MacEwan Griffins and Alberta Golden Bears Saturday and Sunday.
