Len Catling/UBC Thunderbirds

VANCOUVER – UBC striker Ryan Arthur picked a perfect time to score his first career goal in U Sports. The super-sub came into the game between the Thunderbirds (8-1-6) and the UBC Okanagan Heat (5-8-2) with a mere 12 minutes remaining and used all that time before scoring the biggest marker of the T-Birds season. As Arthur was being tackled by his joyous teammates the referee blew the final whistle and the 'Birds had secured a 1-0 victory along with first place in the Canada West Pacific Division.

"I looked up and it was like slow motion," said Arthur when asked about his strike from the top of the 18-yard box that flew straight into the top left corner of the net. "It just glided into the top of the net. Everyone just swarmed me and then the whistle blew."

Up until Arthur's magical moment, Heat keeper Mitch McCaw was undoubtedly the man of the match. McCaw made five saves, including a highlight reel stop off T-Bird Manpal Brar in the 29th minute. Brar looked like he had the top corner picked out, but McCaw stretched out and pushed the ball over the crossbar.

McCaw made another beauty in the 75th minute when he dove to catch a piece of Jules Chopin's free kick from just outside 20 yards, knocking it past the left post.
 
UBC keeper Chad Bush wasn't nearly as busy, but made the saves when he had to. The shutout was a nice one for Bush, who missed seven games this season with a shoulder injury.

"The season's definitely had its ups and downs," said Bush. "It's the first injury that's kept me out for awhile. It's a whole different mindset trying to deal with that."

The three points pushes UBC's season total to 30, one more than regional rival Trinity Western and clinched the T-Birds home field advantage in the Canada West quarter-finals. UBC head coach Mike Mosher knows his team can't wait until the dying seconds to tally once playoffs come around.
 
"It's a matter of scoring," said Mosher. "We created enough, but we need a player to score some goals for us on a regular basis. That's the million dollar question right now."
 
UBC closes out its regular season on Saturday night when they host Thompson Rivers at Thunderbird Stadium. UBCO will also close out their 2016 Canada West campaign Saturday with a match against the UVic Vikes in Victoria. The Heat will try to overtake TRU in the Canada West standings to claim the fourth and last playoff spot out of the Pacific Division.

IMAGE CREDIT: Wilson Wong/UBC Thunderbirds