After accelerating their progress and making the post-season last year, the Trinity Western Spartans are hoping for much of the same in 2017.
The Spartans men鈥檚 soccer team surprised a few people in 2016, finishing second in the Canada West鈥檚 Pacific Division. And now the team is hoping to build on that success for a repeat appearance in the playoffs. The first step towards that goal begins this weekend with a pair of road games Friday in Victoria versus the UVic Vikes and Saturday in Vancouver against the UBC Thunderbirds.
鈥淚t is always pushing forward for us 鈥� we don鈥檛 want to be stagnant, we don鈥檛 want to settle for what we have done in the past,鈥� said TWU鈥檚 Mike Shearon, who is in his second season as head coach.
The team had just a handful of fourth and fifth-year players in 2016.
鈥淭he guys were focused last year and they were on point, so hopefully (with) another year under their belts, they remain focused and do things that we talk about wanting to do,鈥� Shearon said.
鈥淲e have a lot of guys who are upper classmen now and it鈥檚 time that we start to realize the potential of this group.
鈥淚t is all about process for us and being committed to working hard.鈥�
Replicating last season鈥檚 success will require some new faces to step up, especially in terms of offensive production and goalkeeping.
Last year鈥檚 keeper, Andrew Hicks, graduated and he was in goal for all nine of the team鈥檚 conference victory.
And the team鈥檚 leading scorer and point-producer, Elijah Adekugbe, has been lost for the season with a torn Achilles.
Shearon said players are always looking for a bigger role and now they will have that chance.
鈥淣ow is the opportunity for them to step up,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e talk a lot about how we are not producing back-ups, we are producing starters. That is the mentality (we have).鈥�
Last year鈥檚 Spartans squad was middle of the pack in terms of goals for and against, scoring 22 times (ninth out of 14 teams) and conceding 21 (eighth).
鈥淲e have to be better in both boxes; I think last year that was our Achilles heel 鈥� we created a ton of scoring opportunities and didn鈥檛 put enough away, and we gave up a number of poor goals,鈥� Shearon said.
鈥淲hen you do that in soccer, you are not going to win as many games as you should (so) that is what we are focusing a lot on this year, being better in both boxes.鈥�
The Spartans wrapped up their pre-season with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Pacific on Saturday in Seattle to finish with a 1-3 record.
All four games were against NCAA Division 1 and 2 teams.
TWU will make their home debut at Chase Office Field the following weekend with games Sept. 1 and 2 against the UNBC Timberwolves.
