VANCOUVER – For the 11
th straight season, the UBC Thunderbirds have the opportunity to hoist the Canada West championship trophy as they host the Alberta Golden Bears Friday, November 6 at Thunderbird Stadium.
Both squads have already clinched a berth at next week's U SPORTS National Championship tournament hosted in Victoria, but there's plenty of motivation on both sides to claim the conference banner – UBC is looking to secure their record 24
th Canada West title while the Bears are gunning for their 12
th and first since 2016.
The 'Birds have not forgotten what occurred a year ago when they fell 2-1 to Mount Royal, their first loss of the 2025 campaign. Entering Friday night's contest undefeated in 2026, the scenario is indeed a familiar one.
"Having had such a strong season and then ending up not lifting a single trophy, that was disappointing," said UBC head coach,
Mike Mosher, freshly named Canada West Coach of the Year for a second straight year. "This is an opportunity to lift a trophy and erase some of the disappointments from last year. We've had a very good season to date, but I say it all the time: this program's about lifting trophies and winning championships, so it's important to us."
Back in the gold medal match for a 12
th straight time, Friday night's battle is the first for UBC against an opponent not from the city of Calgary since 2021 when the 'Birds shutout Victoria.
The last time UBC and Alberta met in a conference final came back in 2016, the last time the Bears took home the gold. This year's Golden Bears squad punched their ticket to the final thanks to a memorable comeback win over the Dinos in Sunday's semifinal where they evened the game 2-2 in the 90
th minute before Justin George scored the game winner in stoppage time.
"Full credit to them…getting to this game is not easy," Mosher said. "You go through the path of the league and then the new season in playoffs. You don't get to this game and not have good players. They've gone and found ways to win games, they got those two late goals against Calgary to pull themselves out of the fire and get that win, they had two early goals against UFV who is not an easy team to break down. We expect a strong opponent and hopefully a very good and entertaining game on Friday."
The two championship finalists met once in the regular season, a 3-0 UBC victory in Edmonton back on September 27, a game that began UBC's current nine-game win streak.
Led into the gold medal match by newly minted Canada West Player of the Year,
Max Comsia, and captain
Eric Lajeunesse who has won his second straight Defensive Player of the Year award, the 'Birds are a mature, experienced group fully aware of what's needed to secure the program's seventh conference title in the last nine years.
"A lot of these guys have been through a lot of battles over the last several years and they've gone through those experiences in playoff games and so forth, but also it's a very intelligent group. When I say that I mean both their football IQ and just how they carry themselves off the field.
"We haven't lost a game this year, but we did face a bit of adversity and having to come back from being two goals down a couple times. Some of the goals we gave away were just not good enough. As much as we addressed it as coaches, the players took it upon themselves as well. We always preach clean sheets and limiting chances and so forth so, and we've been pretty good here the back half of the season in that regard."
In addition to earning a coveted conference banner, the victor Friday night will also receive a much higher seed at next week's national championship tournament. Suffice to say, there is plenty at stake for both sides.
Kickoff for the 2026 Canada West Championship match is set for 7:00 p.m. Friday, November 6 at Thunderbird Stadium.
Tickets are available online now, or at the door, and the game will also be
streamed live on Canada West TV.
