Game Information
 
Date: Friday, Nov. 1
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Vancouver, B.C.
Venue: Thunderbird Stadium
Watch: Canadawest.tv

SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's soccer team is two wins away from their first Canada West championship since 2014.
 
The Huskies advanced to this weekend's Final Four in Vancouver thanks to Tobias Hyrich-Krueger's two-goal performance, helping Saskatchewan take down the visiting Victoria Vikes in the Canada West quarter-final.
 
The Huskies will take on the UBC Thunderbirds on their home pitch on Friday night under the lights of Thunderbird Stadium.
 
Saskatchewan enters the matchup against the perennial powerhouse of the Canada West as the underdog, with UBC finishing the regular season with a 10-2-3 record, which was top in the conference.
 
However, the Huskies are arguably in their best form in years, as the club comes into the semifinal matchup as winners of their previous seven matches, which is their longest win streak in program history. The club had three players named to the All-Star and All-Rookie squads, with Jacob Powell and Nikolas Baikas each being named Canada West First-Team All-Stars, while Kuhle Bekwayo was honoured with a Canada West All-Rookie team nod.
 
The Thunderbirds defeated the Alberta Golden Bears 1-0 last Friday night in quarter-final action of their own and received the right to host the Final Four thanks to being the highest seed remaining in the Pacific Division.
 
UBC, who are back-to-back Canada West champions, has won 19 conference-titles in their program's illustrious history, including five of the last seven.
 
Meanwhile, in the other conference semifinal taking place on Friday in Vancouver, Calgary will battle Mount Royal in a matchup of the two Stampede City schools. The Dinos lone conference title came in 1980, while the Cougars have yet to win a Canada West championship.
 
The Huskies will take the pitch Friday night looking to spoil the Thunderbirds hopes of hoisting their 20th Canada West title in front of their home fans, with Saskatchewan chasing after their second conference title in program history and second in the last six years.
 
10 Things
 
1: With a win over UBC, Saskatchewan would advance to their first U SPORTS championship since 2014, which is being hosted by the defending national champion Montreal Carabins at CEPSUM Stadium.
 
2: The team to play host to the Canada West championship has won the last six conference titles dating back to 2013. The Thunderbirds won four of those titles, while the Huskies victory in 2014 also came on home turf.
 
3: The Huskies are looking for their first Canada West title since 2014 when they also defeated the Vikes in the semifinal 2-0 in Saskatoon that season, en route to a 4-2 victory over Alberta in the championship match.
 
4: Three of the four programs in the Final Four are members of the Prairie Division, which is the most since the Canada West moved to the present-day format in 2014. In 2018, the Final Four was comprised of all Pacific Division programs, after each Prairie Division squad fell in quarter-final action.
 
5: The Huskies last took on the Thunderbirds on Sept. 15, 2018, in Saskatoon, where the visitors came away with a 3-0 victory.
 
6: The Huskies and Thunderbirds met in the Canada West final on Nov. 3, 2013, in Vancouver, which saw the hosts come away with a 6-1 victory.
 
7: Saskatchewan will be looking for their first win against UBC since Sept. 13, 2009.
 
8:: UBC was nearly unbeatable on their home turf this season, recording a 7-0-1 regular-season record at Thunderbird Stadium.
 
9: The Thunderbirds are the fifth-ranked program in the nation in this week's U SPORTS top ten and were the only Canada West squad in the rankings.
 
10: Saskatchewan's last postseason meeting against UBC took place on Oct. 30, 2015, when the Thunderbirds took down the Huskies 2-0 in the conference quarter-finals
 
Scouting the Thunderbirds
 
UBC head coach Mike Mosher leads the Thunderbirds into the weekend as the program chases after its third-consecutive conference title.
 
The Thunderbirds led the conference in goals, shots and shots-on-goal during the regular season, meaning Huskies goalkeeper Marcus Baxter figures to be tested early and often on Friday night.
 
Forward Victory Shumbusho led the conference with ten goals in 14 regular season matches. Shumboso, who spent time with the Vancouver Whitecaps residency program, was one of three Thunderbirds to be named a Canada West First-Team All-Star.
 
Also honoured by the conference as first-team all-stars were Jackson Farmer and Thomas Gardner, while Jordan Haynes was named a Canada West Second-Team All-Star and Logan Chung was named to the Canada West All-Rookie Team.
 
UBC was second in the conference with five total players named to the All-Star and All-Rookie squads, trailing only Trinity Western's six.
 
Fifth-year goalkeeper Jason Roberts started 14 of 15 games for the Thunderbirds, recording a 9-2-3 record and six shutouts. His nine regular-season wins were first in the Canada West.