UBC men’s soccer got off to a positive start on home turf this Saturday, finishing with a convincing 4-0 win over the UNBC Timberwolves.
“I thought it was a very good performance overall by our group,” said head coach Mike Mosher.
The T-Birds opened the scoring as rookie Manpal Brar sent a shot into the top left corner of the net from the top of the six-yard box. Assisted by fellow first-year Zach Verhoven, the 19th-minute goal put Brar at two goals so far this season.
Minutes later, UBC found themselves in a bit of trouble when Timberwolves midfielder Cheona Edzerza took down goalkeeper Chad Bush in the box. Though Bush shook it off at the time, his match ended in the 27th minute as he substituted out for Jason Roberts.
In the 24th, it was UBC who got the next convincing chance. Midfielder Kerman Pannu took the ball down on the touchline and played it back to Jules Chopin in the box. Unfortunately, his shot blasted over the net.
It wasn’t until late in the half that the T-Birds notched their second. With a free kick just outside the box, Pannu lofted the ball over UNBC’s wall, finding Titouan Chopin amidst the foray of Timberwolves defenders. The forward’s diving header breezed past keeper Mitch MacFarlane, putting the home side up 2-0.
In the second, the T-Birds kept the attacking onslaught going with little to show for it until the 79th minute. Striker Lucas Reis put up UBC’s third of the match, sending a long header just over the fingertips of MacFarlane.
Minutes later, UBC made it four with captain Brian Fong sending the ball through MacFarlane’s legs deep in the six-yard box off a low pass from substitute Luke Griffin.
With a fair amount of the team’s big names from last season not on the roster this year, UBC has been putting a lot of faith in their rookies already this season to help build a well-rounded roster.
“For us, having lost as many players as we lost, I think you look at our group now and we don’t maybe have the superstars so to speak… but I think we’ve got a pretty well-balanced attack and a pretty well-balanced squad over all,” said Mosher.
The two sides meet again tomorrow at 1 p.m. back at Thunderbird Stadium. Following that match, the T-Birds host Trinity Western on September 9 at 7 p.m.