University of Saskatchewan Huskies captain Alyssa D’Agnone has been a force over her four seasons with the women’s soccer team, with her 24 career goals ranking third all-time in program history.
Entering the 2025 Canada West season, however, the striker/winger from Lethbridge, Alta., is feeling a mix of emotions entering her final year of eligibility with the team.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” said D’Agnone. “It came really fast, it seems like yesterday I was just in my first year. There’s a lot of us fifth-years, so we’re just trying to make the most of every moment.”
D’Agnone is one of seven pending graduates for the Huskies, as they begin their 2025 campaign at home on Saturday afternoon against the Mount Royal Cougars.
It will also be the last dance in a Huskies uniform for fellow striker Marie Kilcher, forwards Tia Lecox and Naleya Kobussen, and defenders Taryn Izsak, Georgina Gannitsos-Clark and Anna Oliver.
They’re a group of soon-to-be graduates which star midfielder Nammi Nguyen said is helping to fuel the team’s push towards a Canada West championship this fall.
“So many of these senior players are people that I can’t imagine the team without,” said Nguyen. “It’s going to be so weird next year without them, so we really want to make it count this year.”
Along with the group of pending graduates, the Huskies this season will see 10 rookies enter the lineup which head coach Jerson Barandica said he’s encouraged by.
He praised the mix of veteran leadership and youthful energy into the lineup over the course of the Huskies’ exhibition schedule.
“We’ve had an amazing pre-season,” said Barandica. “In my mind, probably one of the best we’ve had here in 10 years as a head coach. We’re just looking forward to it, we’re excited and we can’t wait to get started.”
Last year, the Huskies were one of the top teams in the Prairie Division finishing third with a 7-2-5 record to qualify for playoffs for a 12th consecutive season.
Losing just twice entering playoffs last year, Barandica is pressing this year’s roster to maintain that same level of consistency.
“When we get into games we trust that our training has prepared us for that,” said Barandica. “A theme of this year is we don’t want to rise to the occasion, we want to fall to our habits.
“Our habits show every day in training and it’s been a pleasure to coach.”
The next step for the Huskies in 2025 will be vaulting back into the Canada West’s final four, after bringing home a conference bronze medal following the 2023 campaign.
Ranked sixth in the conference’s pre-season coaches poll, it’s a spot the Huskies are aiming to return to and break into contender status.
“We’re obviously very good, but we still have that last level to hit and we’re still kind of seen as underdogs,” said Nguyen.
“We saw the pools and we’re sixth place, which I think is a good place to be. You don’t want too much pressure, but we know that we can hit much higher.”
While the goal of playing for a Canada West medal is a clear driver for the team in 2025, D’Agnone is quick to point out the rise of talented programs across the league from the UBC Thunderbirds going undefeated en route to a national championship, to the Trinity Western Spartans and Calgary Dinos fielding strong rosters this fall.
“I think it’s really important to believe in our ability, but not underestimate other teams that we’re playing,” said D’Agnone. “I think every team in this league is good, so we have to show up every day if we want to beat them.
“To be the best, you have to beat the best.”
According to Barandica, the goal will be to balance a belief in their own play with the fact that challenges are certainly to arrive from other Canada West titans in 2025.
But he added it starts with the culture the team has built and the veteran group determined to put their best effort forward before the final whistle on some of their top stars’ collegiate careers.
“I think it starts with not being afraid to say we want to win,” said Barandica. “Having that confidence and that drive to want to that that final step and win a [Canada West], we know that to win you need to be very clean with the details.”
The Huskies will open the 2025 Canada West season at 2 p.m. on Saturday, welcoming the Mount Royal Cougars to Griffiths Stadium, before closing out the weekend on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. with a tilt against the Calgary Dinos.