Reds’ rookies make immediate impact

The Varsity Reds men’s soccer team opened up their regular season over the weekend, with their new recruits finding their place early.

In their home opener, the Reds walked away with a victory over the Mount Allison Mounties 2-1. First year player Yassim Chehab made an impact early, scoring the first UNB goal of the season in the second minute. The centre back has won over the coaching staff’s approval with his strong showing both defensively and offensively.

“He had a solid opening weekend in his UNB career,” said head coach Miles Pinsent. “He was very good defensively and did well in his centre back role. He definitely plays a significant role on the set pieces and we were aware of that. That’s what his goal came from, almost a perfect play.”

Also making an impact as a rookie for the Reds on the weekend was keeper Aaron McMurray. A young addition to the team, McMurray demonstrated he is ready for the standard of play in the AUS.

“He did well,” said Pinsent. “It is always tough for a first year player to come in and make the adjustments to contribute right away. He is relatively young and in a pressure filled position as the keeper. I think he handled that well. He had a solid weekend overall.”

The Reds followed the opening win with a loss on the road against the Saint Mary’s Huskies, being shutout 1-0. Coach Pinsent was pleased with the win to open the season, but the loss left him disappointed with a UNB squad expected to be amongst the top in the conference.

“You cannot lose games, especially early in the season,” he said. “I was disappointed with how we played on Sunday. We didn’t put forth the effort that was needed to win a difficult road game. St. Mary’s is a good team and on the day they deserved the win. I felt it was too bad we did not put in our best efforts and we gave away three points.”

Unfortunately, in a compressed soccer season there is little time to sit back and prepare for their next match. They will have adjustments to make if they intend to defeat the 2-0 StFX X-Men this weekend.

“We are a young team and we have made a number of changes to our lineup this year and did not expect it to be perfect right out of the gate,” said Pinsent. “Hopefully we learnt some valuable lessons after our first weekend in the AUS and that will make us a better team for next week.”

The Varsity Reds men’s soccer team has a tough schedule ahead of them. As important as getting the win is, Pinsent says they are building towards the playoffs in November.

“It is like I told the guys after the game. We’re going to learn from each and every game that we play to help us be better the next week,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is to play as well as we can when we go into November when all the important games are being played.”

This weekend when the X-men take on UNB at home they will face a deeper Reds’ roster as key players will make a return from injuries. Last season’s rookie of the year Ben Law and third year midfielder Pablo Urbina will be back in the lineup and expected to lead on the field.