Image Credit: TRU WolfPack Athletics/Andrew Snucins

By Adam Donnelly

USPORTS SOCCER

WolfPack men’s soccer reset, refocus ahead of USPORTS National Championships next week

Nov 3, 2022 | 4:15 PM

KAMLOOPS — There’s less than a week to go before the USPORTS National Men’s Soccer Championships kickoff at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops. The TRU WolfPack team is hard at work, after shaking off a tough loss to Calgary Dinos in the Canada West quarterfinals on October 28.

“The first couple of days after, it wasn’t great,” WolfPack Head Coach John Antulov says, with a sardonic chuckle. “It’s easy to move on in a sense when you have a second chance.”

As hosts, the ‘Pack have an automatic berth into the tournament. However, all year long the players and coaches had been adamant that they wanted to earn their spot in the championships as Canada West champs.

While that wasn’t in the cards this year, Antulov has worked with his guys to focus on the opportunity that lies ahead of them.

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“There were four or five other top teams in Canada that got knocked out in the quarterfinals, as well,” Antulov says. “Like I said to the guys, we’re fortunate in that we get a second chance.”

That fact isn’t lost among the players, especially team captain Jan Pirettas. His message to his teammates was simple after TRU lost in windy, difficult conditions to the Calgary Dinos.

“What I said to the guys was just forget about it and focus on Nationals,” Pirretas says. “We’re already focused on the next chapter, which is next week.”

Pirettas was there in 2017 when the team won Bronze in a game that went to penalties. The Canada West First Team All-Star, whose eligibility is finished after this season, wants to make sure he’s there on November 13, playing for a medal.

“It serves as extra motivation for me,” Pirettas says. “I know I’m done now, so I’m going to give it my all for the last — hopefully — three games. I’m taking every game like it’s my last one.”

Antulov knows his team will be in tough against top competition from universities across Canada. However, the margin between the teams who will end up competing next week will be razor thin — and once the tournament starts, he knows anything can happen.

“There’s a lot of good quality squads, and it just shows that you have to be prepared. The margins are fine,” Antulov says. “It just shows that if you make a mistake or two mistakes, it could cost you the game. I know our group is going to be ready to go when we get to that point, and you can see the guys. They’re bearing down a little more, a little bit more focused, more prepared.”

The USPORTS Soccer Nationals run from November 10 to 13 at Hillside Stadium.