At last Warriors, the only term in the calendar school year that doesn’t have any official varsity sports is coming to an end. If you ask me, one of the best things about going into September is that it marks the kickoff of many varsity seasons here at UW. For the upcoming fall semester, the following varsity sports will be running: men and women’s rugby, men and women’s soccer, field hockey, and men’s baseball.
Men’s Rugby
Coming off of a 3-4 regular season record and a playoff berth, Coach Graham Stickler and the rest of the men’s rugby team will look to add to their success and make a deep playoff run this coming 2024 season. Imprint had the opportunity to sit down with Coach Stickler, who has been the head coach for four seasons now. When discussing the mens rugby program as a whole at UW, Stickler said it is growing in somewhat of an unprecedented way: coming into this season, UW men’s rugby alone will field three teams varying in skill level.
The importance of three full squads could not be understated. Having depth will not only create inter-squad competition that consistently pushes players to work their hardest, to earn their spot, but it will also allow the team to stay healthy and fresh later in the season. This is expected to be a unique advantage for UW, as it was shared that the majority of OUA teams will not be able to field multiple squads.
Over the 2023 season, the Warriors were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs with a loss to our bitter rivals the Laurier Golden Hawks in a hard-fought battle 33-8. The Warriors will look to right the ship, using the tough loss as a lesson and bounce back this coming season. The Warriors will kick off the regular season on September 8 at 2 p.m. with a home game against the Brock Badgers. For the entire schedule, click here.
Women’s Rugby
Coming off of a 3-3 regular season record and a playoff berth, UW women’s rugby will look to improve on the last season and make a deep playoff run. The team announced that a familiar face will be returning to lead the Women’s rugby team for the 2024 season: Jay Shaw, former co-coach who helped lead the Warriors to a bronze medal berth in 2010.
Shaw will look to bring success to the UW women’s rugby program which has posted a 6-15 record since 2019. A big name to watch out for this upcoming season is fourth year biomedical engineering student Phillippa Reid who led the team in points this past season. With a returning decorated coach, combined with a playoff berth, there is a lot to be excited about this upcoming season for the women’s rugby team who will open the season on September 1 at 1 p.m. with a game against the York Lions. For the complete schedule, click here.
Men’s Soccer
This past 2023 season, men’s soccer finished 3-6-3 and missed the playoffs. Similar to the women’s rugby team, the men’s soccer team will be bringing in a familiar face to serve as the new head coach for the 2024 season. Jon Morgan joined the staff in 2017 as an assistant coach and was appointed as head coach this past March.
The men’s soccer team will look to rekindle the fire they found in the 2022 season where they made a deep playoff run coming up short in the OUA semi-finals to the Western Mustangs. Look for returning right winger Kevin Esprio, who led the team in points throughout the 2023 season. With a new coach and a strong group of returning players, there is a lot to look forward to within this 2024 season. The Warriors will kick things off on August 23 on Warrior Field with a match against the Western Mustangs. Click here for the full schedule.
Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team finished the 2023 season with a 2-9-1 record missing the postseason. However, the majority of the games lost were very close contests, tight, losing most by one tally.
Imprint had the opportunity to sit down with returning OUA all-star goalie Natalie Mouradian. She shared that going into this season, the expectations are high as she believes as a team they are much better than what their record showed last year. She also mentioned that making the playoffs is a goal that she and the rest of the team are very clear about achieving. In taking the steps to achieve this, the team has been working hard this off-season with a large emphasis on positivity and enthusiasm which will ultimately allow them to make the jump from losing close games to being on the winning side of these nail biters. The women’s soccer team will kick things off on the road against the Guelph Gryphons on August 29 at 6 p.m. Click here for the full schedule!
Field Hockey
Coming off an impressive 2023 campaign, going 8-3 and making the playoffs, the womens field hockey team will look to find the same success and then some this upcoming season. Upon the completion of the 2023 season, three members of this team were recognized by U Sports for their exceptional individual contributions to the team.
For starters, head coach Maria Leahy was recognized with the 2023 Marina van der Merwe Award (Fox 40 Coach of the Year) for U Sports women’s field hockey. Leahy will be entering her 10th season as head coach of the field hockey team. Third-year arts and business student Megan Hobson received a second team all-Canadian nod coming off a strong 2023 preference. On top of contributing four goals on the offensive side, she was also a key player on the defensive side, providing support to the team as needed. In addition to this, Marielle Fernbeck also received the nod as an all-Canadian posting a stellar 2023 preference for playing goalie for the Warriors. The Warriors will look to carry the momentum from the 2023 season into a successful 2024 campaign. Opening day is September 21, with a match against the York Lions on Warrior Field. Click here for the full schedule.
Baseball
After coming off a historic 2023 season that ended in a heartbreaking championship loss in extra innings, the Warriors will look to carry the success into the 2024 season. The Warriors concluded the season with an impressive 22-6 overall record which landed them a berth in the qualifier where they made it to the OUA championship.
This 2023 team was loaded with talent. Eight members of the team received OUA all-star recognition: Evan Morrison OUA MVP, Most Valuable Hitter, 1st team all OUA; Jake Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher and 2nd team all OUA; Sean Skourpski 1st team all OUA; Alessandro Strazzeri 1st team all OUA; Jayden Kemp 1st team all OUA; Alex Sleeman 2nd team all OUA; Sam Shepherd 2nd team all OUA; Matthew McKelvey 2nd team all OUA. The Warriors will look to rekindle the success they found in the 2023 season and work toward making history as the first baseball team from UW to win the OUA championship. The schedule has yet to be released, but stay tuned for updates!
There is no denying that there is plenty to look forward to this coming fall semester for UW athletics. Students, let’s do our part and come to the games cheering loud and proud to support our fellow Warriors. Let’s show our Warriors pride and make sure every team coming to Waterloo feels the home field advantage. Go Warriors!
