This past weekend, the men’s soccer team closed out its 2025 season on a high note with a 4-1 win over the UFV Cascades at Hillside Stadium. Despite the challenges the team faced this year, the ‘Pack showed growth and resilience throughout the last half of the season. While the men finished with a 4-11-1 record, their story goes beyond the wins and losses. With a young roster, the team struggled early on, but began to find its stride as the season continued, battling through adversity and producing several breakout performances from key players.
Head coach John Antulov said the biggest strides came over the final 10 games of the season, noting that early-season injuries forced young players into major roles sooner than expected.
“Having a very young squad and suffering some real key injuries at the beginning of the season really forced a lot of young guys to get a little more playing time than they might have been used to,” he said. “But we really started to see the growth in those guys at the end of the season, which gives us a lot of positives moving forward.”
Throughout the season, the team averaged 11.6 shots per game, matching what their opponents took on them. The season began with a difficult stretch of games, as the team went winless in its first six games, including a 3-0 season-opening loss to the Victoria Vikes. The WolfPack’s first points came mid-September in Lethbridge when they tied the Pronghorns 1-1 to give them their first point. The following week, the team secured its first shutout against the MacEwan Griffins, winning 1-0, a game that demonstrated the team’s defensive organization and growing chemistry on the field.
As the season progressed, the WolfPack began converting their chances.
“The first six games hurt guys’ confidence a little bit,” Antulov said. “But we started seeing players like Lachlan Will, Ben Finley and Abdel Coulibaly really creating good scoring opportunities and converting in the last four or five games.”
That positivity continued to build into early October. During a game against the UBCO Heat, the ‘Pack trailed 1-0; however, highlight-worthy goals from Matheus Lucas and Will brought the team their second win of the season. That momentum carried on to the next night to give them a 3-1 win over the Heat again.
The WolfPack saved their best for last. On seniors night at Hillside Stadium, the ‘Pack pounced on the Cascades with a performance that highlighted the progress and persistence developed over the year. Will netted a brace in that match, while Lucas and Coulibaly added goals to seal the result, earning the ‘Pack a much-deserved 4-1 win over UFV.
The ‘Pack scored eight of their 14 goals in their last month of play, showing how much their attack had evolved by their final game. Statistically, the WolfPack’s attack became increasingly efficient late in the season, improving their shot-on-goal percentage to over 45 per cent during the final three matches. Goalkeeper Toran Rutherford made 58 saves across his appearances, including the team’s lone clean sheet in their 1–0 win over MacEwan. Meanwhile, Luca Ortu provided steady backup support, with Will leading the team in shots and tied for goals. The WolfPack’s defensive unit also tightened up, allowing just two goals over their final two games compared to an average of 2.2 earlier in the season.
One area of growth for the team is in discipline; TRU received 41 yellow cards compared to 26 for their opponents. Antulov explained that many of those cards stemmed from inexperience at this level rather than intent.
“A lot of cards were naive,” Antulov said. “Players were sometimes thinking they were still in youth soccer and could get away with things, but you can’t do that at this level. You started seeing a lot less of that in the final few games as they matured and understood what they [could] and [couldn’t] get away with.”
While the team’s final standings may have left something to be desired, it was not altogether disappointing thanks to their remarkable growth. “Last year, we lost a lot of returning players who wanted to go the pro route,” Antulov said. “It forced us to go younger, but I wanted to bring in players we could build with over the next four to five years.”
Looking ahead, Antulov said the focus is on adding size, strength, and set-piece organization while continuing to build confidence. “Although our record wasn’t great, what we’ve built over the last 10 years is strong, and there’s still a lot of interest from players who want to come here,” he said. “We’ll look to get a little bigger and stronger and continue to grow this group.”
Finishing the year with back-to-back wins at home, the WolfPack proved that progress often comes through perseverance and that this group’s best soccer may still be ahead of them.