Youthful Wolverine squad ready to prove themselves against the best
The Wolverine men’s soccer team is set to kick off their season on Thursday, Aug. 25 against UC Riverside, building off an impressive 9-6-2 campaign during the 2021-22 season.
Coming off their first season with new head coach Kyle Beckerman at the helm, the Wolverine men’s soccer club is overflowing with young yet experienced talent.
UVU has arguably its toughest schedule in recent memory this season, taking on three teams ranked in the preseason top 25. The Wolverines will first face #5 Oregon State followed immediately by #3 Washington, as well as #22 Santa Clara all on the road. In addition to their challenging non-conference schedule, the Wolverines travel to Seattle U to take on the reigning WAC Champions as well.
The Wolverines return some important pieces from last year’s squad, including 2021 WAC Freshman of the Year Diego Castillo. Castillo was also honored by making the College Soccer News All-Freshman third team and TopDrawerSoccer.com’s 2021 Men’s Division I Postseason Awards Freshman Best XI second team for his play last season. Castillo will be joined by Mateo Palomino, Jason Smith and Alejandro Silva, who earned All-Freshman WAC honors as well. In addition, Castillo and Silva were named to preseason All-WAC teams for the 2022-23 season.
This season, the Wolverines will return six starters from last year’s club. Castillo, Palomino, Silva, Smith, Carter Johnson and Aaron Nixon are back in the Wolverine’s lineup for the 2022-23 season and will provide crucial experience for this young club.
UVU will feature plenty of new faces this season, including volunteer assistant and GK Coach Tomas Potts. Potts joins a Wolverine program that features 19 new players, including thirteen freshmen and six transfers.
During their 2021 campaign, the Wolverines went a respectable 9-6-2, ultimately losing to #4 seeded San Jose State in the WAC Tournament. After the season, midfielder Jojea Kwizera became the first Wolverine in history to be selected in the MLS SuperDraft, leading him to eventually sign with the team that drafted him in CF Montreal.
The 2022-23 season kicks off at home against UC Riverside on Thursday, Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m. MT. In total, the Wolverines will face off against six NCAA Tournament teams from last season, looking to put their skills to the test by means of a challenging non-conference schedule.
Sports Editor and Senior Staff Writer
Senior at Utah Valley University majoring in applied communications.