Saint Mary’s coach Stewart Galloway says the upcoming AUS men’s soccer season is up for grabs.
His counterpart at St. Francis Xavier thinks otherwise.
"Saint Mary’s is the class of the league," X-Men head coach Graham Kennedy said this week. "They have the team speed, the experience, the goalkeeping, they have everything. They know how to play down the stretch and they know how to win."
There are plenty of reasons why the Huskies are favourites: they are the defending conference champions, they won bronze at the 2010 CIS championship and they have nearly all of their core players from last season’s squad returning.
Captain Pete Garonis has graduated, but Galloway will field a team with other all-stars, including midfielder Jonattan Cordoba, striker Elvir Gigolaj, keeper Adam Miller and defenders Rory Kennedy and Shawn Kodejs. Kodejs also played for Canada’s soccer team at last month’s World Universiade.
"They are a year older and a year more mature so that makes a difference," Galloway said of his returnees. "Any time you get to go to nationals, you see better players at a different level. The experience you get playing in those games, you’re not going to get it here unfortunately. We had a young group last year so it was good for them.
"But six or seven teams could have won the league last year. There are some good teams in the league, some great teams actually. Anything can happen during the season so we won’t rest on our laurels."
The Huskies, the conference’s most-dominant men’s soccer team from 2000-2005 with five banners in six years, returned to the winner’s circle in 2010 with dramatic wins over Dalhousie in the AUS championship semifinal and defending champion Cape Breton in the final. Gigolaj had the winning goal in each of SMU’s victories.
Their success carried over the following weekend when Cordoba netted both goals to lead the Huskies over the University of Toronto 2-0 in the bronze medal match at the CIS championship. It was SMU’s 12th appearance at the national tournament and fifth medal, to go along with four silvers.
Based on last year’s performance, Saint Mary’s has been ranked third nationally in the CIS top 10 rankings heading into the 2011 campaign, which opens this weekend.
The only other AUS team in the rankings is St. F.X. at No. 9. The X-Men, who get reigning AUS MVP Michael Marousek back for a fifth season, went unbeaten in 2010 (11-0-2) only to lose to the Capers in a shootout in the semifinals.
Asked if his team has unfinished business heading into this season, Kennedy had a simple answer.
"I get asked that a lot and the answer is ‘no’," said Kennedy, last year’s conference coach of the year. "Every season is a new season to me. I’m a forward-looking guy and I’m not looking to make amends. We really want to win and we’re focused on having a great season but not because of what happened last season."
The 2011 campaign begins Saturday on four fronts: UPEI visits Dalhousie, Acadia hosts Cape Breton, UNB takes on Memorial and Mount Allison meets Moncton.
SMU and St. F.X. will each have its season openers on Sunday.
AUS MEN'S SOCCER STATS:
St. F.X. – Finished first during the 2010 regular season with a 11-0-2 record but lost in a shootout to Cape Breton in the semifinals of the AUS championship. Opens Sunday at Acadia.
Saint Mary’s – Was second last year with an 8-2-3 mark but defeated Cape Breton in the conference championship final. Won bronze at nationals. Opens Sunday at home versus UPEI.
Dalhousie – Finished third (6-3-4) and lost in overtime to SMU in the AUS semifinal. Opens Saturday at home versus UPEI.
Cape Breton – Fourth during the regular season (6-4-3) but reached the conference final before losing to SMU. Opens Saturday at Acadia.
Acadia – Finished last in the conference with an abysmal 2-11-0 mark. Opens Saturday at home versus Cape Breton.