While the game hung in the balance for longer than they would have liked, the UBC men’s soccer team finished a wet, rainy match by bringing a little bit of light to Thunderbird Stadium, beating the University of Alberta Golden Bears 2–0 on Friday night. Being the Canada West quarterfinals, this loss ends Alberta’s season, while the T-Birds — last season’s Canada West champions — will advance, hungry to bring the trophy home again.
This wasn’t the first time these teams faced off this season, having played on Sept. 12, with UBC winning 1–0 in a game where the ‘Birds defence stood strong. It was a similar story on Friday.
“I mean, that’s two games in a row against that team [where] I don’t think we’ve allowed a shot on goal,” said UBC’s head coach Mike Mosher.
Going in, a ‘Birds win may not have seemed surprising. On top of their previous win against Alberta this year, the T-Birds are coming off an almost flawless season, with 15 wins and only one draw, which came against the University of the Fraser Valley. The same cannot be said of the Golden Bears, who had to fight hard to get a spot in the quarterfinals, finishing with a 5-6-3 record and placing fourth in the Prairie Division.
UBC midfielder Nicolas Nadeau kicks the ball. The ‘Birds had a stellar defensive performance against Alberta, not allowing a single shot on goal. Sidney Shaw / The Ubyssey
In the first half of the game, both teams struggled to get going on offence, being unable to get any quality chances on goal. Although UBC dominated the ball and attempted to capitalize on the attack in order to take an early lead, they couldn’t find the back of the net. The rain was heavy, and it seemed like all the players were having a hard time dealing with the wind and the soaked field.
Perhaps due to the weather, or maybe because of UBC’s lockdown defence, the Golden Bears finished the entire match with zero shots on goal, with all of Alberta’s attempts being cut short very quickly. Most of the T-Birds’ players are BC locals, so it makes sense that they would be much more used to practising and playing during rainy conditions — a perhaps unexpected benefit of home-field advantage.
But while they managed the conditions better, overall, the first half felt almost uninspiring, with the T-Birds defence shining while the attack struggled to pick up momentum. However, something shifted during halftime. Despite the sluggish pace of the game, Mosher was still confident in his squad after the break.
“[We have to have] patience, [to] keep moving the ball with purpose and with quality and pace, and we’re gonna get some chances.” Eventually, they did.
UBC forward Max Comsia — a first-team Canada West all-star this year — looks to get the offence going for UBC. While the offence was stagnant in the first half, they came out of the locker room with much more energy. Sidney Shaw / The Ubyssey
With the rain almost stopping completely during the halftime break, the game opened up much more — both teams came out of the locker room with more energy. The ‘Birds also got a boost from second-year forward Henri Godbout, who entered the field after sitting in the first half. With clear skies — and Godbout on the field — the team started working more cohesively and broke through their offensive stagnation.
In the 77th minute, Godbout — one of the most prominent players of the Canada West championship last year, ranking in the top five in points — scored the first goal for the T-Birds. After UBC midfielder Jovan Mann launched a high, arcing shot from distance towards the net, Godbout snuck right in front of the Golden Bears’ keeper, redirecting Mann’s shot with a light header to break the scoreless tie.
While Mosher said that Godbout sitting until the second half “was just part of the plan,” Godbout was able to add a bit more context to the story.
“I was just sick this week, so I wasn’t able to make it to a lot of training,” he said. “I think the plan was always to go with the 11 that had trained the whole week, and then adapt from there.”
Godbout’s goal was an obvious morale boost for the team, as despite going scoreless for the majority of the game, the ‘Birds caught the Golden Bears off guard, with rookie Theo Afework notching another goal only six minutes later. After Godbout gave the ‘Birds another great chance with a strong shot on net, the save by Alberta’s keeper bounced straight to Afework, who pounced on the rebound to secure their spot for the semifinals and cut off whatever confidence their opponents had left.
UBC forward Theo Afework tries to steal the ball from Alberta’s keeper. Afework’s goal off a rebound in the final minutes put the game away for the T-Birds. Sidney Shaw / The Ubyssey
Mosher was especially complimentary to Afework’s play after the game, emphasizing how his growth throughout the season led him to this point — scoring crucial goals in the playoffs.
“Afework is a first-year player. He’s a little bit older than your average first-year guy, but still not all that old in the grander scheme of it. But he’s just got better and better as the season has progressed,” he said. ”He has things to say that everybody listens to as a first-year. [There’s] quality on the field [while adding] to the quality within our locker room as well.”
Despite the win, UBC wouldn’t have much time to celebrate their victory. By winning against Alberta, the ‘Birds would have to play two days later, in the semifinals against the University of Fraser Valley Cascades.
While the ‘Birds had a recent history of success against the Golden Bears, the same can’t necessarily be said about the Cascades. UFV was the only team to not fall to the T-Birds this season, fighting UBC to a draw back in early October.
This is somewhat of a rematch for the two teams — almost exactly one year ago, they met again in the Canada West semifinals. While UBC won 4-2, the game wasn’t decided until extra time, with the ‘Birds scoring twice in the final 20 minutes. It wouldn’t be surprising if this match is a bigger worry for them than Friday’s game was.
Going into their second playoff match of the weekend, Mosher was firm on what he wanted to see from his team going forward.
“The expectation is to win Canada West. If you don’t win Canada West, then we’ve disappointed and we fall short of the goal,” he said. “That’s the goal from the day that they show up on the first day of pre-season preparation … now we’re here and in the moment, in the playoffs. There’s no more pressure — that’s the expectation.”
Godbout, a key contributor throughout despite his illness prior to the game, echoed similar thoughts. For him and his team, this is where they’re supposed to be.
UBC forward Henri Godbout heads the ball in the midst of two Alberta players. Despite battling illness earlier in the week, Godbout was able to come back strong, making a great play on the ball to score the game’s first goal. Sidney Shaw / The Ubyssey
”As a second-year, I’m way more comfortable. Everything was new to me before, [I was] going in nervous. This year I have a good idea in my head — we have a very secure team.”
While there’s plenty of soccer left to be played, Friday’s game was the start of the march toward the Thunderbirds’ one goal: winning the national title again.
First online Oct. 29, 2025, midnight
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