The men’s soccer season has kicked off and with it comes many changes. Almost half of the roster is composed of new players from all over the globe, representing countries like New Zealand, Lesotho and Brazil. There are many different cultures combining into one cohesive team. 

Even when things aren’t going our way, we stick together.

— Tebello Ntene

The beginning of the season was a little rocky, starting off with two losses. During the home opener against Madonna University, the Maple Leafs were down 2-0 going into halftime. The Leafs scored an early goal in the second half, but were unable to make up the ground, eventually losing 2-1. 

In the second game against Lawrence Tech, the Leafs were also down 2-0 at the end of the first half. Despite the goal from sophomore transfer Kingsley Kanu, the Leafs ultimately lost 2-1 again. 

Fifth year Tebello Ntene spoke to a culture change he has experienced this year, saying, “Team culture has changed in a very positive way compared to last year, it’s all love and smiles in the locker room from the coaching staff to the players which makes it easy for us to go out there and play. Even when things aren’t going our way, we stick together.” 

This change has led to better results: namely a win over Concordia University at home on August 24. This was the Leafs first home win since 2022. The Leafs went into the second half down 1-0 to the Cardinals, but came back and eventually overtook after a goal by junior Eli Simones and a hat trick by Ntene, winning 4-1. 

When asked about the game Ntene said, “Coming off the last win, honestly, we’ve forgotten the game and put all of our focus into today’s game [against Holy Cross]. So, I would say yes, it’s motivation that we found a win early on in the season so we just take it one game at a time.” 

As the team also prepares themselves for conference play, Coach Dan Sullivan shared his philosophy on the mindset needed to tackle the tough competition in the crossroads league: “Being competitive, consistent, obviously we need energy, effort and attitude are things we talked about last year. It is tough, we got two teams that are ranked in the top 15 with another one receiving votes… which is good because our guys like to test themselves against the best teams in the area.” 

Moving forward with this mindset the Leafs next game is a home game on Saturday against Indiana University Northwest.