Last year went way beyond expectations for the UNBC Northern Timberwolves men's soccer team.
A team that had never won a playoff game in the B.C. Colleges Athletic Association emerged from the postseason pack in Surrey with a pair of wins that got them to the league final, a game that ended in a 2-0 loss to the Vancouver Island University Mariners.
So how do you top that? UNBC head coach Sonny Pawar calls it a rebuilding season, but with eight returnees from last year that restructuring project might not be such a daunting task for the Twolves, who host the Langara Falcons in their BCCAA season-opener today at North Cariboo Field.
"The guys have set the bar quite high and that's what we're looking for in developing our program," said Pawar. "I have to be honest, we have a younger group this year and it's going to be more of a learning process. But I think the younger guys we have coming in are a little more advanced than we first started with the group we had last year, so it will take us a while to get up to game speed to start to to compete with the teams that have more senior players, but I'm confident we'll get there."
The T-wolves took time to gather steam in 2010, finishing 6-5-1 in the regular season. The 2011 season begins today at 2 p.m. at North Cariboo Field against the Langara Falcons, followed by a Sunday game at 2 against the Quest University Kermodes.
Familiar names from last year's provincial silver medalists include centreback Scott DeBianchi, and starting goalie Kyle Flannagan, as well as midfielders Kellen Strobl, Desmond Udeh, Jared Dillbaugh,and Nasser Albishi, and forwards Jon Sexton and Daniel Dell.
"It's a lot of returning players -- they know how the league is and how tough you have to play to win games, so I think we'll be alright," said DeBianchi.
Striker Matt Jubinville, outside winger Amedee Cimana and centreback Michael Norgren have come up through the ranks of the Prince George Youth Soccer Association as BCCAA rookies. The Twolves lost their exhibition games two weekends ago in Edmonton, 3-2 to Concordia and 1-0 to Grant MacEwan.
UNBC women expect to win
After an 0-12 season, there's only one way to go for the UNBC women's soccer team.
Just four players -- midfielders Andrea Bertulli and Cora Kelly , and defenders Rebecca Irving and Georgia Lahti -- remain from the 2010 squad that suffered through a long dry season.
"It's kind of like a whole new team," said Bertulli. "But I think we're going to do really well this year with a new squad. I know we'll do better than last year, we have a whole different team with more subs and a lot of good young players."
The Lady T-wolves also made the pre-season trip to Edmonton, losing 1-0 to Grant MacEwan and tying Concordia 1-1.
"It's a very inexperienced team but they've played soccer most of their lives, so they know what it takes to win, and hopefully our preparation for the season will get them hungry for the provincials and the hard work will pay off," said T-wolves head coach Mato Mikic.
The women kick off the season today at noon against Langara, then face Quest Sunday at noon (both games at Michelle Lamarche Field). Forward Emily Kwitkoski took a shot off the head in the exhibition series and might not be cleared to play this weekend.
Jordan Hall appears to have the inside track as starting goalie to replace Roxy Solmonson. Sandra Konopfl, Karmen Fu, Julie Martin and Heather King have also left the team.
Forward Caitlin Lamble, who played in Iowa last year at Ashford University, is on the injured list awaiting ACL surgery. That will free up playing time for the likes of local products Kwitkowski, Sydney Wilson, Tanya Grob, Jo Ribeiro, Regan McMillan and Quesnel product Natalie Sales and Cassandra Reynolds, a recent arrival who lends a physical presence.
Striker Kayla Balfour of Vancouver could be an impact player, depending on how she recovers from a knee injury. Katrina Blokker, a recruit from Ontario, joins Tanya Grob and Bertulli in the T-wolves' backfield.
