B.C. soccer powerhouses roll into town for Bears opener

The Bears soccer team has the difficult task of opening the season against two of the country's best, as they'll face the number-eight ranked UBC Thunderbirds and number-two ranked TWU Spartans this weekend at Foote Field.

The youthful Alberta squad will have the tall order of dealing with two veteran teams, something Bears head coach Len Vickery knows will test his young, but talented team.

"There's no question the quality of our first-, second-, and third-years. We're going to lack a little bit of experience as compared to UBC, TWU, and Victoria, who are totally intact from last year. That's one of the major hurdles we'll have to overcome — the lack of senior players," Vickery explained.

"I think people will be very impressed with the quality of our incoming players, the strength of the squad albeit without the senior content."

UBC's veteran makeup will pose a stiff test right off the bat for the Bears, as the Green and Gold went 0–2–1 against the T-Birds last season. The game will serve as a good measuring stick for a team that's been together as a whole unit for a very short time, as players wrapped up their senior provincials last weekend.

"Right away it's going to be an extremely competitive game. UBC as well as ourselves have always been in the mix in terms of qualifying for playoffs and competing for Canada West and for that matter going onto national championships."

UBC was an extremely strong team defensively as they allowed a miniscule 0.50 goals per game — tops in the conference. The T-birds also lead the league in shutouts as keeper Srdjan Djekanovic put zeroes on the board for the opposition ten times last season, but has moved on after graduating. The T-Birds will have returning defenders Graham Smith, Joey Loreth, Jason Gill and Matthew Allard, who will be tough to beat again this season.

One of the Bears who will be looked to for some offence against the stingy T-Birds will be Brett Colvin.

"He's shown he can score at this level. We've got to get other players up in support with him to get the goals, and because these other teams have noted marksmen as well, we've got to be defensively organized and strong in order to shut down the opposition."

One of those marksmen Alberta will have to beware of is TWU's Daniel Lowen, who was tied for second in conference goal scoring last season with seven goals.

The Bears played the CIS silver-medalists from last season tight in two matches in 2008, earning a 2–2 draw and a hard fought 2–1 loss against the Spartans.

Alberta looks to make an early statement against the perennial playoff teams this weekend kicking off the regular season Saturday against UBC and then taking on TWU Sunday, with both games going at 2:15 p.m. at Foote Field.