Coming off an early season bye week, the UBC Thunderbirds (2-0) put their undefeated start to the 2024 campaign to the test this weekend, hosting both the Trinity Western Spartans and Fraser Valley Cascades.
The Pacific Division double dip kicks off Friday night at Ken Woods Field with the Spartans (0-2) paying their lone visit of the season. The Cascades (3-0-1) follow up with a trip to Thunderbird Stadium on Saturday.
UBC may be on the heels of a Canada West bye week, but the squad did take on a pair of non-conference rivals with an eye on keeping fresh.
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"We got everybody in the squad a decent amount of minutes over the two games," said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher who's guided his team to a second straight 2-0 start to the season. "With the bye coming when it came, we kind of almost looked at it as an extension of preseason just to keep getting guys games and minutes, but at the same time not overloading too much so we're as fresh as we can be for the coming weekend."
Trinity Western have also played just two Canada West games to date after a week one bye. While the season is still young, an 0-2 start after losses to TRU and UBC Okanagan means the Spartans will be a desperate side in search of their first win while also looking to avoid falling too far behind the pack.
"It's the nature of the season and how compact things are and if you get a poor start then it kind of backs you into a corner right away, and that's certainly the case for them," Mosher added. "Now they have to come to us and Victoria who've had good starts. It probably sounds cliché and I say it all the time, but there are no easy games in this division. Whether you're home or away, you always have a challenge with your opponents and we expect that from both Trinity and Fraser Valley this week."
The Cascades are enjoying one of their strongest starts to a season having earned a pair of wins over UNBC at home, followed by a draw at UBCO and a victory at TRU last weekend. No doubt this is UFV's most challenging weekend to date, however, as they pay a visit to the also-undefeated Victoria Vikes Friday night before hopping back to the mainland to face the number one ranked T-Birds.
While UBC's focus is certainly on each individual opponent, the team is also striving for a better opening half performance after being forced to battle back in each of their first two league games.
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"Even the two non-conference games we played last weekend, in each of those four games we've put ourselves in not a good spot by conceding goals early and then having to come back from deficits. That's not what we want to be doing. We need to start games better and really get at opponents from the beginning of the game and be quality from the start."
Friday night's contest against the Spartans begins at 7:00 p.m. at Ken Woods Field with free admission. The 'Birds are back in Thunderbird Stadium for Saturday's contest vs the Cascades, which also kicks off at 7:00.
Tickets for Saturday's battle are available now and both games will be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
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