VANCOUVER – In a battle between two of the top teams in the country, the defending U SPORTS National Champion Mount Royal Cougars are in town this Friday and Saturday, November 3 and 4, to take on the number one ranked UBC Thunderbirds at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
A rematch of last season's Canada West Final series in which the T-Birds (9-0-1) earned a second straight conference title, Friday night will mark the first meeting between the two since that game three UBC 1-0 win.
"We're really looking forward to playing Mount Royal. They're really well coached, they're really structured, they have a lot of talent and a lot of returning players from last year's national championship team," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas. "We're excited and prepared for the challenge."
Currently riding an eight-game win streak and a season-long 12-game point streak, the T-Birds face perhaps their biggest challenge since week one of the Canada West season which saw them split a two-game series against the Pandas in Edmonton.
UBC may find themselves ahead of the Cougars (6-2) in the standings but MRU heads to Vancouver winners of four straight, their only two losses on the season thus far also coming courtesy of Alberta.
"They're a top team and have been for a while now," added Thomas. "Our focus is on our execution and consistency and trying to play smarter in tight situations, trying to prepare ourselves for those big moments and big games. This will be exciting to see how we match up and where our habits are at."
Those habits have so far provided big dividends for UBC as the 'Birds are averaging 5.3 goals per game along with a tremendous goal differential of +40, all through just ten games. A quick look at the Canada West scoring leaders shows just how deep an offence UBC boasts with the top six in the conference all wearing the blue and gold, led by Mackenzie Kordic's 17 points.
While starting the season a bit quiet, at least by her standards, fourth-year forward Chanreet Bassi exploded for five points in last weekend's sweep over the MacEwan Griffins, earning herself Canada West Player of the Week honours.
While the goals continue to come, the 'Birds know they may be harder to find this weekend in what will be a good test before the team heads into a bye week.
"We've been going hard right from pre-season, there's really been no break. We just can't look past this weekend obviously and think about the break coming up. It's going to be a battle, it's going to be a war this weekend so we have to make sure we're ready to go."
Puck drop Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre is set for 7:00 p.m. with Saturday's rematch scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Tickets for both games are available now and both will be streamed live on Canada West TV.
