VANCOUVER – Canada's most successful men's University soccer program is gearing up for another season – and another run at adding to their record number of conference and national banners – and the UBC Thunderbirds will also have a handful of top tier recruits to help them with this task.
Midfidler Joven Mann, goalkeeper Roco Vukic and forwards Markus Rukavina and Henri Godbout join veteran transfer forward Jost Hausendorf as UBC's recruit class of 2024.
Having graduated six long-time members of the squad after last season, including 2023 U SPORTS Player of the Year,
Sebastian Dzikowski, the T-Birds are once again going to field a very different looking team when they begin the 2024 campaign later this month.
Jost Hausendorf (Photo: Andrew Snucins/Thompson Rivers WolfPack)
"It's the nature of what we do in University sport, you're always pushing players on after each season, you're graduating out four, five, six guys typically every year and they're older players and more often than not they're impactful players, and that's once again the case," said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher who enters his 29
th season at the helm. "For us, having the club system that we have underneath our varsity squad is a huge benefit to us. You're going to win championships with older teams and it's very difficult to do that with 18 and 19 year-olds as your average age. The club system allows us to develop some guys who are able to come in after a year and so we're rarely having to go into a full rebuild mode and I see that as the case this year."
A case in point regarding UBC's club system is forward Henri Godbout who excelled in the VMSL's Premier League division last year and is poised to take the next step to the varsity squad this fall.
"He's a very dynamic attacking player and can play in a number of different positions," said Mosher. "He could well impact the game from a scoring perspective both in scoring himself, but also setting up. He really flourished in the club system for us and I think he should be able to be a guy who can step right in."
Given the amount of talent within UBC's club system, with training camp now underway, there very well could be others who push themselves onto the varsity squad by the time the season begins August 23.
While Godbout is a familiar face to many returning T-Birds, a former familiar opponent has turned into a teammate as Jost Hausendorf joins the blue and gold from the Thompson Rivers WolfPack where the German national played the past three seasons.
The 6-foot-5 forward is a physical presence and has offensive ability to go alongside, notably setting up TRU's extra time goal in their 2022 U SPORTS Championship winning final, against the T-Birds.
"What we're getting is a player with a different profile than much of what we've got within the squad," Mosher said of Hausendorf. "He's six foot five and that certainly can be impactful. He's an attacking player, he played more in a wide position at TRU but we'll see if we might be able to utilize him as a bit of a striker as well. Coming in as a grad student, he's an older player, a more mature player. He grew up in a German system and we expect a maturity about his game which I think will be a good fit with the supporting cast we have in our group."
Joven Mann (Photo: Bob Frid/Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Of UBC's returning players for 2024, ten have come through the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy program. The outstanding pipeline for talent continues to produce for the 'Birds who are adding two more alumni in midfielder Joven Mann and forward Markus Rukavina.
Mann is coming off a gap year following his final season with the Whitecaps U19 team that saw him win the 2023 League One Championship alongside current T-Birds
Brennen Fuerst and
Luke Norman.
"He was a fairly regular starter on what was a very good academy team. He's a good, more attack-oriented midfielder. He possesses a pretty good shot and I think he can be another guy to help us score goals. We have to make up for the void of (Dzikowski) not being back. I said to the group last year, who's going to make up for the goals from Victory (Shumbusho) graduating out, and Seby was that guy last year. Now we're into the same situation this year; who's going to fill that void, and Joven is another candidate to contribute in that area."
Rukavina is slightly younger than Mann, fresh out of high school. The Burnaby product has plenty of skill to add to UBC's talent-laden roster.
Markus Rukavina (Photo: Bob Frid/Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
"He's another sort of an attack-oriented midfielder or a striker. We've had good experience and history of players coming from the Academy having success in our program and we certainly hope that Markus will be one of those guys as well. He's a taller, more physical type profile and I think he will grow with time. He helps give us different options. He's strong technically and we hope he will be a guy that can add in our attack."
With goalkeeper Axel Thulin-Lennselius graduating after last season, the 'Birds needed to strengthen their last line of defence. The addition of Roco Vukic not only adds a solid piece to understudy
Bennett McKay (along with second year
Jack Garner), but he might indeed be a key long-term piece for the blue and gold.
"I think we've got another good one with Roco coming in," said Mosher. "He's a really intelligent individual, he comes in with a really strong academic profile. He's got a great attitude and he's just a good person. We anticipate Bennett probably graduating after this year so we need keepers coming in and I think Roco will push a guy like Jack in the following year for the starting position. That's what you want, you want competition for every spot. His training habits are really good, he's trained a little bit this summer with Vancouver FC and I think there's some real upside there given his intelligence and work habits."
The five new additions will officially begin their first Canada West campaign when the Thunderbirds open up the 2024 season at home on Friday, August 23 against the UBC Okanagan Heat.
