LANGLEY – They left it until late, but the UBC Thunderbirds will have home-field advantage throughout the Canada West playoffs after they pulled out a 1-0 victory against Trinity Western on the final day of the regular season.

The T-Birds entered the game knowing how important a victory would be. A draw or a loss would leave the door open for UVic to swoop in and steal the #1 seed in the Pacific Division from them.

UBC outshot the Spartans 17-10 on the night and 11-5 in the first half as they put the pressure on early. They weren't able to solve TWU goalkeeper Alexander Cordeiro though, who made four saves in the first 45 minutes to keep the score deadlocked.



Battling both some tough conditions and a resolute opponent, things looked a little dicey for the T-Birds. But as has been the case so often this season, they eventually found a way. This time it was the head of Connor Mrazek that provided the winner, as he went bar-down off a cross to the back post in the 81st minute.

That was all UBC needed, as they closed out the match from there to finish 11-1-3 in the regular season. It's the third straight year that the Thunderbirds have finished top of their division, and means that the road to postseason glory will go through Vancouver.

The Canada West quarterfinals and semifinals will be held next weekend at Thunderbird Stadium. The T-Birds will look to avenge their loss in the championship game last season, and recapture the conference crown.