Image Credit: TRU WolfPack Athletics

By Adam Donnelly

MEN'S SOCCER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

TRU Men’s Soccer remember historic bronze medal as they prepare to host USPORTS Nationals in the fall

Mar 15, 2022 | 5:22 PM

KAMLOOPS — This fall will mark five years since the TRU WolfPack Men’s Soccer team won their first-ever medal at the National Championships. In November, the WolfPack will once again welcome the nation, as the university is preparing to host nationals once again.

CFJC Sports spoke with past and present players about that bronze medal in 2017, and what that means heading into the 2022 national event.

Five years later, it’s as if no time has passed for former TRU soccer standout Ryan Glanville.

“It feels like it was yesterday, honestly,” Glanville tells CFJC Sports. “When I see some of these pictures and a lot of the familiar faces that were part of that run.”

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Glanville was one of the leaders on the TRU Men’s soccer team that won bronze at the USPORTS National Soccer Championships held at Hillside Stadium back in 2017 — the first time Thompson Rivers University hosted that event.

“It feels like destiny, kinda. You know what I mean?” Glanville said after his team defeated UBC in the bronze medal match. “On our home soil, Nationals, the first medal for the program. It’s been amazing, it’s been a wild ride.”

The university is preparing to host the nation again in 2022. For John Antulov, who coached that team in 2017, he’s hoping to catch the same momentum.

“You never know what’s going to happen when you get to that position, but I’m feeling good with the group that we have,” Antulov says. “Being able to step up and play as we did in 2017.”

JJ Banton was a rookie back in 2017 but played a big role for the WolfPack that year. He’s heading into his final year of eligibility in 2022; he remembers how much fun it was to play on the big stage.

“The whole town, the whole city came together and really supported us,” Banton recalls. “That’s something I’ll never forget, right? The stands were filled completely for every game. That support was unreal.”

For Glanville, the memory of that event remains strong.

“It was exciting, and for me — some of the moments that I pick out are JJ’s goal late in that game against York,” Glanville remembers. “It’s a packed Hillside Stadium, under the lights, there are snowbanks all around the field. So it was exciting, and for me, a lot of these memories are starting to come back, and I hope this next generation will be able to enjoy it in the same way.”

According to Antulov, the 2017 USPORTS National Championships served as a stepping stone for the WolfPack Men’s Soccer program.

“I really believe that we’re going to be in that position where I feel we’re going to have more people coming in, more people supporting, and more people believing in who we are and what we can do,” Antulov says.

If that’s the case, and the community embraces this team at the 2022 National Championships, the ‘Pack believe they could bring home another medal — possibly made of more precious metal — come November.