October 29, 2022: U-Sports, Canada West Quarter-Final Men's soccer game between the UBC Thunderbirds and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies at Thunderbird Stadium, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo by Bob Frid/UBC Athletics 2022, All Rights Reserved)
By Ben Tompkins
Canada West Playoff Victories

Men’s soccer looking to achieve higher this season

Jul 31, 2023 | 4:30 PM

The Huskie men’s soccer team is less than 12 days away from their first game of the 2023 season (exhibition) and they’re looking for a better result than they had in 2022.

The Dogs finished last year’s regular season with a 3-7-4 record, before bowing out to the UBC Thunderbirds in the Canada West quarter-finals, 4-2 on Oct. 29 in Vancouver.

According to the group’s head coach, Bryce Chapman, the outlook on this year’s campaign is a pretty positive one.

“I think we’re excited to get going, training camp opens up on Tuesday, August 1. Just speaking with a number of the players over the last couple of weeks, everyone’s excited to get back together and get back at chasing another Canada West title, that’s what we want to get back to,” he told HueskieFAN.

“It’s a very young group coming in, lots of new players, but we’re very excited about our recruiting class and the core group that is currently with our program.”

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Ultimately, although the U of S’s record wasn’t exactly ideal, it was good enough to get them to the postseason.

Chapman explained that at the end of the day, that’s the goal, no matter the regular season record, as it’s more important to win in the playoffs.

“At the end of the day, records are records, our minimum is making sure we’re in a playoff spot. I think you got to make sure you put yourself in positions to progress, so our number one goal is to always be in the playoffs, and then obviously get into a Final Four,” he added.

“The pieces we’ve put together, we’re quite excited about what we can put on the field this year, and move forward and grow off what we’ve done the last couple of years.”

For the Huskies, the last game of the year wasn’t an easy one, as UBC went on to play in the national finals.

Ahead of this season, the emphasis is getting to the tough battles right away and making sure that this group is ready for anything, no matter the situation.

“One statement we always make is you want to get points on every game you play, whether that’s a draw, or whether it’s a win. We really want to expose our younger players to what the standard has to be every weekend. We just want to chip away every weekend, make sure we’re getting as many points as we can and put ourselves in a good spot at the end of the season,” said Chapman.

The green and white will kick off their pre-season in Calgary on Aug. 12 and 13 against MRU and UNBC, respectively, before playing their first two official matches in Edmonton on Aug. 26 and 27 against Grant MacEwan and the U of A.

Saskatchewan will follow that up with their home opener on Sept. 1 against the Calgary Dinos, with Mount Royal proceeding on Sept. 3.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8

by Ben Tompkins
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