The Weber State University men’s club soccer team has been active since 1992, playing in the West Coast Soccer Association. WSU is a six time national champion. Most recently winning in 2011, they are looking to continue their success.
“This season, we have a very good mix of players including some really young and dynamic talent,” coach Cord Stimpson said. “We as well have returning players that competed in the regional tournament that we qualified for last year, so that helps bring structure, experience and familiarity to this year’s team.
WSU kicked off the season Friday against the Utah State Aggies and lost 3–2 at the Wildcat Soccer Field.
“With a lot of new guys in the program, it usually takes some warming up to them to get the playing system down,” Stimpson said. “But in our case we have adapted to everyone pretty quickly and are showing how good of a team we can be this year.”
Weber State’s focuses on their defense to help create dynamic attacks on the offensive side of the ball.
“We’re a team that stays defensively shaped which helps us not get scored on very often,” Stimpson said. “We as well have a fun dynamic attack that makes our play style exciting to watch.”
The ’Cats feel that their attack is very well-balanced and fits their conference play.
The Intermountain Conference consists of Utah State, Brigham Young, Utah Valley, Utah, Boise State and Weber State. WSU will play in the San Diego State Aztec Cup, which brings many of the recent national champions to SDSU, on Sept. 27-29.
WSU lost in 2015 and two years ago, the last time they played in the cup, failed to make it out of their bracket. However, the Wildcats had success in 2012, bringing the cup to Ogden.
“The San Diego Aztec Cup is a very competitive tournament for our league,” Stimpson said. “Winning that tournament gives you an automatic berth to nationals.”
The ’Cats are expecting to finish high enough in conference play to qualify for the regional tournament in Richland, WA. The winner of the regional tournament qualifies for the national championship tournament in Austin, Texas.
WSU hits the road to take on BYU before returning Oct. 5th when they kick off with the Madison Dragons Soccer Club at the Wildcat Soccer Field.
