VANCOUVER – This weekend at home, the UBC Thunderbirds (5-2-0) arrive at the official half-way point of their Canada West season when they host a Friday-Saturday double-header against the University of Northern British Columbia (5-4-1). Beginning Friday at 7:30 p.m. the blue and gold look to extend their winning streak to three, while halting the surging Timberwolves who bring a three-game winning streak of their own to Vancouver.
Mike Mosher's club currently sit second in the Pacific Division and are coming off a tidy 4-0 home victory Sunday against the University of Saskatchewan. Four different players found the back of the net on Sunday for UBC while collectively the team defended strongly, keeping Saskatchewan to one single shot on net. One of the highlights from Sunday was seeing young players like first-years
Eric Lajeunesse and
Asvin Chauhan contribute on the scoresheet.
"We've got a solid core of players that have been around Canada West for several years, but younger players like Eric and Asvin have really hit the ground running," said
Mike Mosher. "Eric is a good player, very calm, intelligent and he's been terrific from day one. So has Asvin. He's worked his butt off. He had a great week of training, and worked hard, and putting him into the game Sunday I felt quite confident that he could go in and score. Asvin's goal was special. What a strike. He's got some electric stuff when he gets going."
The UNBC Timberwolves are enjoying a successful 2022 campaign of their own, having already posted the most victories (five) since the 2018 Canada West season. UNBC enters the weekend with the most goals (23) in all of Canada West. 15 of those 23 goals have come off the foot of fourth-year forward Michael Henman who comfortably leads Canada West by a seven-goal margin.
Mosher added, "Let's be honest it's an eye-popper. Credit to him and his team. You'd be foolish to not pay attention to that. But it's not just him. They've got other players who can help create. I've got the utmost respect for Steve [Simonson] and the job he's done with that team since he took over. If you look back, we have not been able to take a full six points from them in recent years. We are preparing for a challenging weekend. You're seeing that with their results this season."
Both games vs. UNBC this weekend are scheduled for 7:30 PM at Thunderbird Stadium.
Friday, September 30
th is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and the UBC Thunderbirds soccer teams are proud to partner with Hope and Health to raise awareness. Please check out the details below as Friday's games will include a traditional opening from Musqueam's Debra Sparrow, a traditional performance from the Sasquatch Dance Group and more.
