Tigers men’s soccer team prepared to defend AUS title

Winning a championship is difficult; defending it one year later is harder. After a triumphant playoff run, the Tigers enter the 2026-27 school year with a title to defend. 

The team finished second in the Atlantic University Sports regular season standings last year, before facing Cape Breton University’s Capers in the championship final. Dalhousie University striker Mohammed Wahdan scored the winning goal in double overtime to complete the win, and Dalhousie secured their 14th AUS championship.

The Tigers advanced to the 2025 U Sports men’s soccer championship, but were defeated in the quarterfinals.

“It was just amazing,” says Wes Hawley, the team’s assistant coach. “As a player, I got that feeling of winning the AUS championship.”

Hawley, entering his sixth year as an assistant coach, played with the Tigers during their 2008 championship run.

The Tigers are looking to build momentum and continue off last year’s championship run for a repeat.

Mohammed Tolba, a third-year medical science student and striker for the men’s soccer team, says that last year’s run was an unforgettable experience. 

“Our group was just so tight-knit and so close together; that made it such a fun, unforgettable experience for everyone,” Tolba says.

Tolba says that the AUS trophy is in the team’s dressing room for the athletes to admire ahead of practice and game time. 

“It serves as a reminder every day of what we’re here to do; all the guys coming in know what we accomplished last year.”

Many members of last year’s championship team left the Tigers after the season.

Among those not returning are defender and captain Jack Ellis and goalkeeper Sinclair Astridge, the latter of whom signed a contract with the Halifax Wanderers FC.

“We lost a couple of big leadership guys from last year. It’s pretty important to have a leadership perspective,” says Kysac MacDonald, a commerce student and defender for the men’s soccer team. “These pre-season games are great, showing [young players] what AUS is all about.”

Despite the roster changes, the team enters the season as the defending AUS champions and has developed their line system throughout the off-season. 

“We are a completely new group who have to come in with that same hunger, that same drive to win another championship,” says Hashimoto.

Ben Hashimoto, a fourth-year commerce student and striker for the men’s soccer team, says that the team is ready for another impactful season and that he’s never seen a group more locked in.

“It’s important just to stay level-headed,” says Hashimoto. “We are not riding the high of last year, but trying to create a new one.”

The team’s head coach, Alan Jazic, is stepping into his sixth year as head coach of the Tigers. Last year, Jazic not only coached his team to an AUS championship but also won the AUS’s award for coach of the year. 

“He really holds people accountable and gets the best out of people in a tough-love kind of way,” says Hawley.