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Golden Bears soccer build new side

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Soccer men build new side

The Bears will try to hold on to success in spite of losing many of last year’s national champions

Robin Collum, Sports Editor Thursday, 30 August 2007

There are few things in sports sweeter than repeating a title, but it’s rarely an easy feat, especially when there have been significant changes to a team between seasons. That’s the dilemma the Bears soccer squad, last year’s national champions, face right now.

The Bears graduated five fifth-year players and lost several others to injuries and other pursuits. Head coach Len Vickery expressed confidence in his team’s ability to overcome the shakeup and excel this season, but acknowledged that there are significant challenges ahead.

“Our [first] goal is to make the playoffs at the Canada West level,” Vickery said. “Anything goes at the playoffs—it’s two semi-final games and a final, and we have to win that final to advance to nationals because UBC are hosting this year and they automatically take one of the CW berths.”

In addition to the graduating players—Hilaire Kamden, Mark Korthuis, Devon Fraser, Jarin Myskiw, and Mike Kennedy—the Bears lost a few others: keeper Daniel Gusberti has decided to focus on working towards medical school instead, and new recruit Luke Jones, a forward from England, has been sidelined due to injury.

Perhaps the face most noticeably missing from this year’s lineup is Eddy Sidra, the team’s 2006 Rookie of the Year. He’s plying his trade in Europe this year instead, having joined the under-19 side of German professional team Energie Cottbus.

“Not having those few players is going to put a bit more pressure on the first-year players to step up and make an impact early,” Vickery admitted.

“We’re coming off winning a national championship, and last year we did have a strong core of fifth-year players,” he added. “Unfortunately, they’re lost to us this year, but on the plus side we have a strong core of [returning] players, as well as a few strong transfer students and a very strong group of first-year players coming into the program.”

Those include ‘keeper Jas Gill, midfielder Manav Deol, and defenders Martin Andersen and Giovanni Bruno. These four—along with Sidra—were all a part of the Edmonton Juventus club team that won the provincial championship last weekend.

“When somebody has played four or five years and is lost to the program, if a first-year player is to take their place they have to be truly outstanding,” Vickery said, noting that he kept that in mind as the team looked for new players to fill the roster for this year.

The stakes are high for the new team. As mentioned, there’s only one open Canada West spot at nationals this year, and this conference is generally considered the most competitive in the country. There’s little room for error if the Bears want to keep their title.

“It’s a short but very intensive season,” Vickery explained. “We’ve got to get better from week to week, and hopefully things come together for us by the end of the season.”