The number one ranked UBC Thunderbirds cruised through the Canada West regular season, staking their claim as the clear team to beat in 2025. But the defending conference and national champions now face their biggest weekend since last November, hosting the Alberta Golden Bears in a quarter-final playoff matchup Friday, October 24 at Thunderbird Stadium.
It's a rematch of a mid-September battle with the Bears which proved to be one of the most tightly fought contests all year, and another game against what's become a familiar playoff opponent for UBC, Friday night being the third post-season matchup in the last four years.
"Alberta has some very good attacking pieces, some real threats and we're aware of that," said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher, whose squad is seeking a record 24
th conference title this autumn. "A close game obviously the last time we played them, we got the early goal in that one but couldn't find another one, but at the same time we were quite strong defensively and didn't give up too much. But, we're expecting a difficult game against a difficult opponent who'll be a real challenge on day one of this first weekend of playoffs."
Finishing 5-6-3, the Golden Bears finished with just one win and a loss in their final four games of the season but managed to secure fourth place in the prairie division to book their ticket to Vancouver for one of two quarter-final and semifinal weekends, the other being hosted by Mount Royal.
The winner of UBC's game vs Alberta will advance to play either Fraser Valley or Calgary on Sunday afternoon.
Despite Alberta's mediocre record, the Bears finished the regular season as the second stingiest defensive side, allowing just 13 goals against to UBC's conference leading eight.
The Bears will definitely be a challenge for the T-Birds' high octane offence to navigate, hoping to stifle as much as possible.
"I think it's something we're used to, to a degree," Mosher said of opposition tactics. "Many of our opponents have sort of sat off and looked to counter and transition. It's a one off game and a mistake, a bad break, a little bit of bad luck, a wonder goal like last year in that semifinal and you can be in trouble. Take nothing for granted, that was even the message last week, no complacency, nothing changes, we're going in to win two games. That's it."
Mosher has continually praised his veteran leadership over the course of this season and that level of experience and maturity will now be more important than ever to ensure the record-setting 2025 campaign isn't short-lived.
"We've got a fairly experienced group that's played in a lot of playoff games over the last several years. Our guys are a pretty calm and composed group overall and not a whole lot really rattles them. But, it comes down to each individual day and game as we start this part of the season. You got to bring it and you got to perform."
Kickoff between the T-Birds and Golden Bears is 7:00 p.m. Friday at Thunderbird Stadium, immediately following the earlier quarter-final between the Cascades and Dinos.
Tickets are available now and the game will also be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
