The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s soccer team hosted their home-opening game as well as the inaugural Bateman Cup over the weekend of Sept. 9-11. Despite excelling in the preseason, the Huskies were unable to win either of the match-ups and have been unable to secure a win in the early regular season.

The official home-opener was held on Sept. 9 against the MacEwan University Griffins to packed stands and large groups of local elementary students who were invited to attend by Huskie Athletics. The large crowd welcomed the Huskies onto the field and kept up the energy throughout the game, cheering on their home team until the final whistle. However, the game resulted in a tie with the Griffins scoring in the first half and the Huskies tieing the game in the second half with what would be the game’s final goal.

Head coach Bryce Chapman was content with the team’s performance against the Griffins despite the tie.

“We had a little marking error in the midfield to give up that goal in the first half but if you look at what we generated, I think in the first half we generated 16 shots alone. I’m sure we were that or more in the second half. Overall, I’m happy with what the guys did,” Chapman said.

With the weather holding up for the duration of the game and a large group of fans out to watch, Chapman said the home-opening game was a positive experience.

“It’s always exciting for your home-opener. [It was a] beautiful day, I think we had about 1000 kids out today. There’s a lot of excitement and the guys like being here — it’s comfortable sometimes. It was good to be out here and hopefully people that came out enjoyed what they saw,” Chapman said.

The Huskies tied the Griffins 1-1 and lost to the Golden Bears 5-0.

The Huskies were out again on Sept. 11 to play the University of Alberta Golden Bears in the inaugural Bateman Cup — a special match remembering veterans of the First World War from Saskatoon. The cup is named in honour of the legacy of Reginald John Godfrey Bateman, an English professor at the U of S before he enlisted in the First World War. The Huskies and Bears were competing to be the first-ever team to hoist the cup.

“The Bateman Cup respects and honours the individuals that have served in the war over many years. It goes back to 1909, when the first Huskie team actually went and played in Alberta and beat them one-nil back then,” Chapman said.

The Bateman Cup is specifically played against the University of Alberta, and will be every year. This is because the University of Alberta was the first opponent to face the U of S soccer team.

“It’s an opportunity to honour and respect those that have served for our country. A lot of that is obviously driven by David Dubé and the Concorde Group and we’re very thankful for them to be a part of that.” Chapman said.

Bateman, in addition to being an English professor, was also the captain of the U of S soccer team until he enlisted. Bateman died in the line of duty on Sept. 3, 1918, after which his father wrote to the university president at the time, Walter Murray, with the wish that his son be remembered with both a plaque on campus as well as a memorial soccer game.

The end result of this year’s match was a Huskie loss with a final score of 5-0. Alberta scored their first two goals in the first half, followed by three more in the second. In total, the Huskies managed 10 shots on net before the end of the game. This loss brings the Huskies to a 0-3-1 record going into the weekend of Sept. 16.

The next two games for the Huskies will be on the road with the team taking on University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves on Sept. 16 and University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Sept. 18. The Huskies will be back on Field 7 at Potash Corp Park on Sept. 23 to play the Trinity Western University Spartans.

—

Jack Thompson / Staff Writer

Photos: Jeremy Britz / Photo Editor