Men’s soccer dates back to 1911 at the University of Saskatchewan.
The very first interuniversity competition in men’s soccer was in the fall of 1911. That first team went to the University of Alberta by train and the University of Saskatchewan won 1-0. This team, however, did not go under the name of Huskies.
Men’s soccer has been played at the university every year since, even though other sports like football stopped during the war years, soccer continued.
The first reference using the name “Huskies” for University of Saskatchewan intercollegiate teams was in the 1920s.
When the Canada West University Athletic Association was formed in 1971-72, the University of Saskatchewan was a charter member and men’s soccer was a sport the Huskies declared.
Prior to that teams at the UofS played in the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union. However, not much information is available until the 1973-74 season.
The Huskies had a rough beginning in the Canada West, going 0-15-1 in the first five seasons. It wasn’t until 1978-79 that the Huskies posted a 4-3-1 season. After that season the Huskies went winless once again until, 1983-84 with a 2-6-2 record.
From then, the Huskies consistently finished in fifth or sixth place.
It wasn’t until 1999-2000 that the Huskies made their first playoff appearance. With a 3-6-1 record and a fourth place finish under third year head coach Jovo Radovic, the Huskies squeeked into the playoffs and had success.
The team finished with a bronze medal after defeating the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in penalty kicks.
In his last season as head coach Radovic (16-45-13) in 2003-04, the Huskies once again earned a Canada West bronze medal. This time entering the final four as hosts, the Huskies defeated UBC again, this time 2-1, to earn the bronze medal.
Bryce Chapman took over the team in 2004-05 and began with a rough 0-10-2 record. But just two seasons later, Chapman led the Huskies to their best record in 20 years at 6-7-1, narrowly missing the playoffs.
He did the same in 2007-08 with a 4-5-5 record, missing playoffs by just two points. For his efforts, Chapman was named Canada West men’s soccer coach of the year. He was the fourth Huskie coach to earn the honour — Gord Sokolon won it in 1990-91, Percy Hoff in 1994-95 and Radovic in 1997-98.
In 2010-11, the Huskies found themselves in playoffs for the first time since 2003-04. Finishing the regular season with a 7-4-3 record, the Huskies entered the Canada West Final Four as the fourth place team. They knocked off the first place Alberta Golden Bears in the semifinal before losing to the UBC Thunderbirds in the final. The second place Canada West finish is the best-ever for the Huskies.
After missing the playoffs in 2011-12, the Huskies returned to the playoffs in 2012-13 with a 6-5-4 record. At the Final Six in Edmonton, the Huskies downed Victoria in their opening match before dropping their semifinal match to the eventual CIS champion UBC. Determined to reach the podium for the second time in three years, the Huskies defeated Trinity Western 2-1 to earn the bronze medal. In 2013-14, the Huskies made history by advancing to the CIS Championship for the first time in history after a silver medal performance at the conference level. Saskatchewan finished 6th.
The Huskies were crowned Canada West Champions for the first time in history in 2014-15. After a program-best 9-1-2 regular season finish, the Huskies earned the right to host a Canada West playoff game and the Canada West Final Four for the first time in history. Saskatchewan defeated the Alberta Golden Bears 4-2 to win the title. The Huskies finished 7th at the CIS Championship.
In 2017, Chapman was named the first-ever full-time head coach in program history.