After five years as associate head coach, Mike Shearon is set to make his mark on the Trinity Western Spartans men’s soccer program.
The Spartans begin the Canada West season with a pair of road games this weekend (Aug. 26 and 27) in Prince George against the UNBC Timberwolves.
And while the roster may be young — they have just three fifth-year players — the team is looking to build on last season’s success which saw them finish fourth in the 2015 Canada West playoffs.
“We’re excited. There’s a little bit of nervous energy going on. It’s the first time with me at the helm and with a new staff, but we’re feeling good,” Shearon said. “We’ve had a good pre-season, the guys have worked hard and we’re just ready to get going.”
The team has just two fifth-year players and less than half (nine out of 31) are fourth or fifth-year players.
Both of the team’s elder statesmen will key the defence with Andrew Hicks in goal and Taylor Johnson at centreback.
A quartet of local products are also expected to play bigger roles.
Vagelli Boucas will vie for time on the back-line while the midfield features Joel Waterman, Elie Gindo and Mitchell Urzinger.
“There’s a lot of optimism going into the year,” Johnson said.
“We feel we’ve gotten stronger. Obviously losing our captain is a big loss, but I think we have some good rookies who will put in some minutes and a lot of our younger guys are stepping up.”
The Spartans begin the home slate of their schedule on Sept. 2 when they host UBC Okanagan.