VANCOUVER – With top spot in the Canada West Pacific Division all but locked up, the number one ranked UBC Thunderbirds are home for their final two regular season games this weekend, starting Friday night for Thunderstruck 2023.
Taking on the Thompson Rivers WolfPack (5-6-1) in a rematch of last year's U SPORTS National Championship gold medal game, the T-Birds (10-0-2) have the opportunity to officially clinch first on Friday which would ensure Saturday's matchup with the UBC Okanagan Heat (3-7) is far from UBC's last home game of the campaign.
Playing in the second half of Friday's Thunderstruck festival – after the T-Birds' women's squad opens up proceedings – UBC takes on the WolfPack for the second time this season having earned a resounding 4-0 victory in Kamloops back on September 2.
While the 'Birds have since gone on to produce one of their best regular seasons in team history, it's been a bumpier ride for the defending national champions. Thompson Rivers started the season 0-5 but have since turned the tide considerably, dropping just one contest in their previous six games. The WolfPack head to Vancouver after putting up back-to-back 4-0 wins over the Heat last weekend.
"They had a difficult start but if you look at their form over the last six or seven games they're as good as anybody," said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher of the WolfPack's season to date. "I'm sure they'll be up for it Friday and they've put themselves in a better spot to be in playoffs. And then there's UBCO who will be desperate to try to earn a playoff spot. We say it all the time, there are never any easy games. Every weekend may present a slightly different scenario but we have to be ready to go."
The WolfPack currently hold down the fourth and final Pacific Division playoff spot with a comfortable lead over the Heat. While UBCO does hold two games in hand over Thompson Rivers, the Heat have seven fewer total points, a lot to overcome with the runway shortening by the day.
With just four games remaining in the regular season, the T-Birds have given plenty of reasons to justify their number one national ranking. The blue and gold lead the Canada West with 32 goals while limiting opponents to just six. Seven of UBC's ten wins have come with a clean sheet.
"Our standards are high, the bar is high and we can't take our foot off the pedal," Mosher insisted, emphasizing the need to not alter the collective mindset in the final two weeks of the season. "We can make some changes, we can rotate the team a bit, give some others that are deserving an opportunity over the course of the next couple weeks just to make sure we're fresh and healthy going into playoffs. But regardless of that it's about maintaining high standards in training and then that carries through into the games."
Scoring on a penalty in Victoria last Saturday, T-Birds forward
Sebastian Dzikowski tied a program record with his 14
th goal of the season. With ample opportunity over the next four games, the Calgary native can not only set a new team record, but potentially chase the single season conference mark of 19.
Dzikowski will be among nine graduating seniors honoured before kickoff against the Heat on Saturday evening as the team plays their final regular season game at home in 2023.
"Everybody plays a role and is important within the team. This is not an easy team to be in and get your minutes so there are some guys who have really important roles on the field and some guys who maybe haven't got as much opportunity. That's not to say they aren't good players, it's just really challenging with some of the depth we have. These are guys that come in and make everybody else better on a weekly basis in training. We want to honour all them and see them off in their last league home game here."
Kickoff for Friday's Thunderstruck game against the WolfPack is 7:30 p.m. PT. Saturday's Senior Night matchup with the Heat is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., both at Thunderbird Stadium.
Tickets for both games are available online with streaming going out live on
Canada West TV.
