Just four minutes into their game against the Trinity Western University Spartans, the UBC men’s soccer team had a packed Thunderbird Stadium jumping to their feet, erupting in cheers. It was a full crowd for this year’s Jump Start soccer game as the T-Birds played their third game of the season in front of almost 3,000 students and fans.
“The boys have been looking forward to this game for weeks and months,” said head coach Mike Mosher. “They're deserving [of] more of an atmosphere and a crowd like that.”
“The atmosphere was awesome, and it was awesome for our roster,” said keeper Roko Vukic. “I'm so happy that we got to experience it all together as one big family and put on a show, hopefully, for everybody who came.”
UBC wasted no time finding the back of the net, pressing the attack early. This started off with a strong defensive move as the Spartans made their own push to the net. Midfielders Yu–Hsuan Yuan and Nicolas Nadeau stuck right with a Spartan on a run and, with their speed and insistence, cut off any angle for a cross or shot.
“Since I've been here, there hasn't been such a big crowd yet, and we're talking about how the energy feeds us and makes us better,” said Yuan. “We don't turn that into pressure; we actually turn it into more motivation to make us play better.”
They gave up a corner to TWU in the third minute, but with their strong defence again, UBC connected first with the ball sailing into the box. The ‘Birds quickly used this defensive stop to spur their offence. As the Thunderbirds moved the ball around closer to the net, midfielder Eric Kim saw an opportunity.
Turning on the jets, Kim cut into the middle and placed a beautiful through ball to Yuan. With a touch to control, Yuan took his shot and fired right at the net. Looking like a solid shot, the Spartans’ defence stepped out to deflect it.
Ultimately, the deflection proved fatal.
Just bouncing off a TWU defender in front, the ball soared right into the net past the Spartans' keeper Jakob Frank. Suddenly, the whole stadium erupted in deafening cheers as the T-Birds ran to celebrate their early lead. Going up 1–0 four minutes into the game was certainly the way to start, and the Thunderbirds looked energized and ready to soar through the season.
Even though the goal came early, it was a long-awaited one for Yuan — his first-ever goal as a Thunderbird.
“I've been waiting for a pretty long time for this goal, and scoring in front of such a big crowd, [I’m] pretty happy,” said Yuan.
“[Yuan’s] worked really hard over his time here,” said Mosher. “Nobody's probably more deserving than him.”
The Jumpstart crowd was electric, and they didn't have to wait long to celebrate.
The early goal was a perfect reminder of how well UBC had started their season, already coming off two wins in their first two games.
To kick off the start of the season, they faced off against the University of Fraser Valley Cascades in UBC’s home opener. This was a tense rematch of last season’s overtime thriller played by the two teams in the Canada West semifinal. The game was a scrap, with UBC finally scoring in the 120th minute on a header from forward Henri Godbout. The shot earned them the 1–0 win and sent them to the Canada West finals and U Sports nationals.
For the T-Birds, despite being down two of their best strikers, Henri Godbout and Theo Afework, to start the season, they've still been prolific on offence.
This time around, facing the Cascades again, the Thunderbirds were missing Godbout, as he and fellow striker Theo Afework were injured in preseason. Godbout is now almost fully back and was able to play some minutes in the Jump Start matchup. Afework remains in recovery and has only recently returned to practicing with the team.
Although these two players have been missed by the T-Birds, the team has managed to stay afloat. The roster currently boasts exceptional depth and numerous scoring threats. The biggest standout from their first weekend of games has been third-year forward Max Comsia. He was the Canada West player of the week for the first time this season after a major four-point weekend. He had a brace against the Cascades in the season opener and then marked another goal and an assist in the Thunderbirds’ first match against the Spartans.
As UBC held possession and controlled the game in the first half, Comsia looked to find the net again for the T-Birds and add to his points. He took off racing with a sight at net, but was not quite stable on his feet, firing his shot straight to TWU’s keeper.
Comsia was quieter in this match, but Mosher noted how, even without ending up on the score sheet, he still made an impact.
“Max is a very deserving individual. He works his butt off, and there's a lot of quality there,” said Mosher. “Hopefully, we're just kind of scratching the surface so far this season for him.”
Although UBC continued to control the game in the first half, they were struggling to connect on another goal. That was until the 37th minute, however, when the Jump Start crowd was up on their feet once again. Off a great individual effort from Nadeau to pop the ball up into the box, the ‘Birds kept the ball alive deep in the Spartans’ end. After deflecting out from the crease, it bounced back to Nadeau. He left no doubt. But the celebrations for the T-Birds didn’t last for long. The goal was immediately deemed offside, leaving UBC with their 1–0 lead going into halftime.
Nicholas Nadeau (#12) thought he had a goal right before the half ended, but it was immediately waved off for offsides.
The ‘Birds were doing well to generate opportunities, taking nine shots to the Spartans’ two in the first half. They got one last beautiful look at goal as time was running out in the first half, with a well-placed cross setting up UBC perfectly in front of the net. Godbout went for the header — his specialty — and had beaten the goalie, but this time the shot was just off, hitting the post and bouncing away.
After a tough first half for the Spartans, the team came out of the locker room from halftime looking energized and ready to go. They stepped up their attack, pushing harder against UBC and upping the physicality of their play.
The Spartans were testing UBC, and the Thunderbirds suddenly found themselves in a tough spot. The ‘Birds’ early struggles to connect on goal loomed large, as they found themselves in the midst of a close contest.
“I would have loved for us to have converted at least one more in the first half, and then it's a little bit smoother sailing,” said Mosher. “But credit to them. They came and had a go in the second half.”
“Overall, we could have scored more goals in the game,” said Yuan. “We made it a little bit difficult for ourselves.”
UBC didn't convert on many of their chances in this game, but their defence and goalkeeping preserved the win in spite of that.
With the Spartans presenting more of a challenge, the crowd kept the energy high in the second half, doing their best to fire up the T-Birds.
Vukic played a decisive role in keeping the sheet clean and earning the 1–0 win. In the 60th minute, the Spartans’ Marc Huizenga, with quick feet and quick thinking, tried to finally find the back of the net for TWU with a well-placed cross right into the box. Vukic stepped up. He dove forward with a confident play to punch the ball away, which gave UBC time to properly set up defensively and disrupt TWU’s attack.
Vukic only played a total of six games last year, but this season, he has already had a wonderful start. With the end of the game nearing, Vukic again relied on his instinct to make a solid play to keep the Spartans at bay. His willingness to jump out of the net to block shots is a high-risk, high-reward strategy that has boosted the ‘Birds’ defensive strength thus far.
“I'm just going off of instinct, and just reading the game,” said Vukic. “Staying as calm as I can and not feeling rushed. That way, I can make the best decisions possible. And thankfully, I made the right decisions today.”
Three games, three clean sheets. You can't ask for much more if you're UBC.
As the final whistle blew, it turned out that the incredibly early goal would be all that UBC was able to get, but also all they needed. It was not one of the big wins UBC has grown used to thus far, but it was a win nonetheless. The victory puts UBC at 3–0 on the season, winning all contests with clean sheets.
“Those clean sheets, that's a team effort,” said Vukic. “The guys have been really putting everything that they have into training and preparing, and it really showed, especially at the end when it got a little bit gritty and tough.”
With another win under their belt, the Thunderbirds head back onto the road to face off against the UBC Okanagan Heat in Kelowna. Although they did walk away with the win, UBC certainly has some things to work on in their next game, like converting more on-goal chances and tightening up their midfield defence.
“Maybe it wasn't as pretty, maybe it didn't have as many goals as we would have liked, but at the end of the day, it's a win,” said Mosher. “It's three games, no goals against. It's a very positive start.”
