Early playoff exit aside, this was a memorable season for the UNBC Timberwolves men’s soccer team, for all the right reasons and Canada West coach of the year Steve Simonson was the guy who made it all happen.
He recruited a team that caught fire in the second half of the season and went on an eight-game undefeated streak, reeling off six wins and two ties over that span on the way to a team-best 8-3-5 record.
The T-wolves finished third in the Pacific Division - a few percentage points shy of second place and chance to host a playoff game - and their season ended Saturday in Edmonton with a 5-0 quarterfinal loss to the Alberta Golden Bears.
Five T-wolves were selected conference all-stars this year and striker Michael Henman was the Canada West choice as male soccer player of the year after he tied the league single-season record with 19 goals. Now, with Thursday’s Canada West announcement, UNBC has its first coach of the year award.
“I think it’s a great thing for our school and they all kind of go hand-in-hand,” said Simonson. “A coach doesn’t get any recognition or honours if his team doesn’t perform. They’ve done a great job and Michael’s obviously a big part of the finished product and it’s kind of fun to go through it together.”
Several T-wolves, including Henman, played for Simonson this past summer on the Victoria Highlanders in BC Soccer’s newly formed League1 BC. The coach prophetically predicted in a Citizen interview just before the start of the Canada West that Henman was on his way to a spectacular season.
“Michael Henman had a really good summer and is in top form, scoring goals, and if he can stay healthy he’ll be a real handful in this league,” said Simonson, in the Aug. 23 story.
“We are so happy for him,” said Henman. “When he got that award I was quite emotional just because I’ve been with him since I was 11 or 12 years old and he’s just been an amazing person for me on the field but also off the field. He’s done so much for me, he brought me up here and he believed in me so he definitely deserves it.”
UNBC athletic and recreation director Loralyn Murdoch said Simonson took Henman under his wing at an early age, helping him overcome mental health struggles that affected him away from the soccer field and found a formula that instilled Henman’s confidence that allowed him to thrive as an athlete. The entire team benefited this season as a result.
‘Without Steve, there’s no Michael,” said Murdoch. “The adaptations that were made to ensure Michael could excel at soccer, that’s all part and parcel to Steve’s mannerisms and his building the team culture. They’re a pretty fantastic duo.
“This is just a stepping stone and we’re hoping to maintain the level. Every kid that was honoured (as an all-star) and the entire team, with their record, it’s so deserving and they’ve worked very hard to get there.”
Simonson, 51, was hired at UNBC in the summer of 2015 to replace Al Alderson as T-wolves’ coach. In his first two years combined, the team had just three wins and four ties. UNBC missed the playoffs last year in the pandemic-shortened season, posting a 2-5-5 record, but reached the top-four this year for the first time since 2018. After eight seasons, Simonson’s record now stands at 30 wins 47 losses and 27 ties.
Having a 19-goal scorer helped the bottom line this year but Simonson also credited his team’s commitment to defence in most of their 18 games as the key to their success. That defence-first mentality started with first-team all-star defender Cody Gysbers, second-team goalie Daniel Zadravec, second-team midfielder Kensho Ando and all-rookie team centreback Hagon Kim.
“When you look at our goals against, the games that we defended really well and kept the scoreline down we won all those games,” said Simonson. “It’s when we didn’t take care of the defending (that they lost). “It wasn’t like we were outscoring everybody 5-4 or 4-3. It was just a really good team year and after that first Alberta loss we went to Lethbridge and went on a run. The belief was high and it was bad how it ended but it doesn’t take anything away from the season we had.”
