VANCOUVER – The U SPORTS No.2-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (13-1-0) are hosting the University of Regina Cougars (3-6-5) in the Canada West quarter-final at Thunderbird Stadium on Saturday, October 28
th at 4:30 p.m. (PT).
The defending conference champion T-Birds are coming off of a historic campaign in which they tied their own records for most ever wins, points and shutouts in a Canada West season, also finishing atop the regular season standings for a second straight year.
"I am extremely excited with where our team is at both attacking and defending leading into playoffs," said head coach
Jesse Symons. "We have had some exceptional individual and team performances. The team is feeling fresh, ready to compete and excited to get on the field."
'Birds forward
Katalin Tolnai tied the single-season conference points record, matching the performance by former teammate and UBC legend
Danielle Steer last year, with identical tallies of 14 goals and eight assists. Her 22 points were seven more than anyone else in Canada West.
"Katalin has consistently been a player to show up and create or score in all of our matches this year," praised Symons. "She has been very motivated to really help the team and it has been so exciting to see her push to another level as the season has gone on."
The blue and gold are beginning their playoff run the same way they did last year, with a quarter-final home date against the University of Regina Cougars. It's the first time that the two teams have met since last year's post-season clash, which saw the T-Birds win 8-1 behind hat tricks from both Tolnai and
Jade Taylor-Ryan.
"Regina has shown a tremendous amount of grit and determination through their end of season and play-in match versus Alberta," noted Symons. "Full credit for them to get into the quarter-final and we will need to be ready to play on our front foot throughout the game.''
The T-Birds took last year's Canada West Championship in a dramatic 2-1 win over archrival Trinity Western at Thunderbird Stadium. The 'Birds also have the most U SPORTS Championships of all-time with seven, bringing home a national banner as recently as 2019.
"We have done a great job focusing on all aspects of the game through season, so we will continue to focus on our consistency in the match," concluded Symons. "We have a focus on a high tempo mindset and hope to bring that to the match from the opening whistle."
If the T-Birds were to win on Saturday they would host the Canada West Final Four the following week, which is likely to begin on Thursday, November 2nd. Stream every match live or on demand on Canada West TV.
