VICTORIA, B.C. - It will be a match between the Canada West's top teams on Oct. 9 when the University of Victoria Vikes women's soccer team visit hostile territory and match up against their CIS No. 5-ranked rivals the UBC Thunderbirds. The T-Birds sit atop the Canada West with an  8-1 record, while the Vikes have rocketed to third place in their division and made their first appearance on the CIS Top-10 polls this week, ranking in at No. 9 with a 6-2-1 record.
 
Both teams are riding high from a string of impressive performances, with both sides currently holding six-game win streaks. Two of those wins for both the T-Birds and Vikes came recently this past weekend, Oct. 2-3, in weekend sweeps over prairie sides the Saskatchewan Huskies and Regina Cougars.
 
The Vikes earned their way on to the Top-10 rankings after their efforts in a six-game win streak that stretches back to Sept. 18 against the UNBC Timberwolves. It's the first time the Vikes have cracked the CIS Top-10 this season, while the T-Birds move up two spots this weekend from seventh to fifth.
 
The Vikes' rocky 0-2-1 start to the 2015-16 season began against the T-Birds on Sept. 5 with a 1-0 loss, but the Vikes have since recovered scoring 20 goals and conceding only two in that time.
 
Friday's match is sure to present an intriguing contest that combines the three major categories of offence, defence, and goaltending. Both teams find themselves near the top of each respective category on the Canada West individual and team leaderboards.
 
Third-year Thunderbirds forward Jasmin Dhanda and fifth-year Vikes forward Emma Greig are tied for first with two others in the Canada West for points this season, all with eight. Dhanda's 45^th minute go-ahead goal against the Vikes on Sept. 5 proved to be the difference in the Vikes' opening week defeat to the T-Birds.
 
Between the pipes, no goalkeeper has held more clean sheets than T-Birds' keeper Olivia de Goede. Through 732 minutes of action, De Goede is 6-1 with five clean sheets to her name and a goals-against average of 0.49 – the best in the Canada West. Fourth-year Vikes netminder Meaghan Storie is close behind with four clean sheets and a goals-against average of 0.71 – fourth in the Canada West.
 
The T-Birds and Vikes have scored the most goals out of any other teams in the Canada West with 20 and 21, respectively. Both sides find themselves at the top of the rankings in terms of goals against, with the Vikes' total of six conceded being eclipsed by only two teams – the Trinity Western Spartans and the T-Birds with 5 and 6, respectively.
 
The Vikes visit UBC at Thunderbird Stadium on Oct. 9 at 5:00 p.m. and the game will be live on canadawest.tv.