By Ahmed Najdat (Sports Information Assistant)

VANCOUVER – The No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds won their eighth consecutive Canada West men's soccer game tonight as they beat the visiting UBC Okanagan Heat 2-0 on David Sidoo Field at Thunderbird Stadium.

The winning goal came just before the halftime whistle as Sean Einarsson controlled a high ball with his chest before placing a short range shot into the UBCO net, making it 1-0 for the home team.

The game witnessed high intensity from the beginning. The first dangerous moment came from UBCO as Jordan Leib capitalized on a defensive miscommunication to steal the ball from UBC and take a shot that was well saved by Thunderbirds' goalkeeper Luke O'Shea, who was making his season debut on Saturday after recovering from injury.

UBC's Milad Mehrabi replied with a well-taken free kick on the edge of the box that was impressively saved by UBCO's Christopher Cuthill.

The second half started with a superb sidekick from UBC's Mehrabi that just missed the wide open goal. In the 59th minute, Heat goalkeeper Cuthill continued his impressive performance with a great save to Mehrabi's low free kick.

Six minutes later, the Thunderbirds finally beat Cuthill for an insurance marker as Niall Cousens tapped in an easy finish in front of the goal after receiving a short pass from Navid Mashinchi.

The Heat depended on their dynamo Dylan Abbott, who was controlling the tempo of their midfield but the Heat's player of the game Cuthill, who continued his outstanding evening with a great save to stop Boris Si from scoring on a half volley in the 71st minute. Then in the dying moments, he turned aside a breakaway chance from T-Birds' rookie Kyle Sohi.

With the win, UBC improves to 8-0-0 to start the 2014-15 season and will host Fraser Valley and play at Trinity Western next weekend. UBC Okanagan (4-5-1) will get a bye.

IMAGE CREDIT: Rich Lam/UBC Thunderbirds