Over the summer, six Dalhousie men’s soccer players represented the Tigers on the U-21 Halifax Wanderers squad where they faced off against overseas talent in the 2024 International Summer Series.
Luke Berryman, Sinclair Astridge, Ben Hashimoto, Mohammed Wahdan and Kyle Routledge were named to the young Wanderers team in mid-July along with new recruit Mohammed Tolba. These players, combined with stars on other Atlantic University Sport teams such as Owen Sheppard and young members of the Wanderers’ first team came together to showcase the best young players in the Maritimes.
With the goal of having six players from Atlantic Canada on the squad by 2030, the Halifax Wanderers created an U-21 team that would compete against teams from across the world. This year they brought in two English squads: Ipswich Town F.C. of the English Premier League and Middlesbrough F.C. of the English Football League sent over their U-21 squads to take on the young Wanderers at locations across the Maritimes. Along with talent across the Atlantic Ocean, Halifax also played against the NB Selects who carried the best young soccer players in the Atlantic province.
2024 International Summer Series
The U-21 Wanderers first opponents were Ipswich Town F.C., who they met in St. John’s, N.L. and three days later in Sydney, N.S.
Halifax put on a show for the 4513 attendees that filled the King George V Park stands and walked away with a 2-1 win. The two teams met again and after trailing for a majority of the game, the Wanderers found the back of the net to end the game with a 1-1 draw.
Astridge said that the reason they came away with a win and a draw was because the team stuck to their coach’s game plan and he was proud to come away with that record.
“I think [the games] went fantastic,” Astridge said. “For a team from Atlantic Canada to beat some overseas competition, it’s pretty incredible.”
After the draw, the young team headed to Moncton to take on the NB Selects. Dalhousie’s stars came alive and behind goals from Wahdan and Routledge, the Wanderers blanked the New Brunswick youth 2-0. Routledge was awarded for his efforts by winning player of the game.
Berryman said the NB Selects match was a good experience for the younger players who weren’t able to play against the English clubs to get some playing time and also showcased New Brunswick’s talent level.
For the final two games of the series the Wanderers moved to Charlottetown where they had the difficult task of handling Middlesbrough F.C.’s U-21 squad.
Hashimoto, who is from Charlottetown and was injured for the first half of the International Summer Series, was welcomed back in front of a hometown crowd.
“It was amazing,” Hashimoto said. “Getting to come back and play in front of family, friends, and all of P.E.I. Soccer, it was one of the best experiences of my life and definitely in soccer.”
Despite the homecoming of Hashimoto, the young Wanderers were overwhelmed and were shutout by the English squad 3-0. Halifax was able to get past Middlesbrough’s keeper the next match but were still outscored 2-1.
Reflecting on being a Wanderer
When comparing the talent level of Canada to that of international play, Berryman felt there was a massive difference. One of those is that all of Middlesbrough F.C. and Ipswich Town F.C.’s players are professional players.
“The speed of play is extremely fast, really physical,” Berryman said. “But it’s a great challenge and opportunity to push ourselves.”
The captain of the Dalhousie Tigers wore the armband for the young squad in the last three matches and looks back at his time spent as a Wanderer as an incredible experience.
“I think having a really high level of training and games is a great opportunity,” Berryman said. “And the fact that we’re all local and we got to represent our nation against opposition from elsewhere at a really high level. It’s definitely an experience I’ll remember forever.”
Astridge said that having other Dal players on the team grew a level of comfort for him where he could already trust those players at the beginning of training, and that trust grew the more they played together.
Hashimoto agrees with Berryman and credits training in a professional environment everyday as preparation for him and his Dal teammates for this AUS season.
“I can already see the level we’re at compared to last year,” Hashimoto said.
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