The University of Saskatchewan started to play women’s soccer in an official league in 1984-85.
In that first season, the Huskies played interuniversity games against teams from the universities of Calgary, British Columbia, Alberta and Victoria. Under the direction of Bruce Hoggard, the Huskies failed to secure a win in the one tournament season finishing 0-4.
Women’s soccer didn’t have its first “official” win until the 1986-87 season with a 4-1 win in the season tournament hosted by Calgary. The team finished in fourth place and Heather Kerby was named a Canada West All-Star.
After Hoggard (0-6-1) and Andy Sharpe (2-8-2) coached the team for two seasons each, soon-to-be Huskie Athletic Director Ross Wilson took over the team. He would spend the next six seasons at the helm. He was named Athletic Director in 1991, a position he stayed in until retirement in 2006.
During the six seasons, the Huskies consistently finished in fifth place, with the exception of their best season ever in 1993-94 when the team finished 3-3-4 for fourth place. Three players were named as Canada West All-Stars —Samantha Simpson, Alisa Camplin and Dee Kaye. Wilson was awarded the Canada West women’s soccer coach of the year and Simpson was named the league MVP. She was also a First Team All-Canadian in both 1993 and 1994.
Keith Pritchard took over the team in 1994-95 and had little success finishing with a 2-13-5 coaching record.
Peter Reichert coached for the next six seasons and in an expanding Canada West soccer league, he had considerable success. The Huskies finished consistently in fifth place but earned a team high four wins in 2001-02.
Under Reichert (14-41-14), the Huskies had their lone playoff appearance in 1999-2000 as host of the Canada West Championship. The Huskies made it to the bronze medal game against Victoria. But the team lost 1-0 in an overtime shootout to finish fourth.
Colin Melnyk started as the Huskies coach in 2002-03 and in his first season continued success finishing with four wins for the second season in a row. Melnyk (17-43-12) coached until 2006-07.
Tom LaPointe joined the Huskie coaching staff in 2007-08 and built a foundation of winning for the program. in 2012-13 the program reached the playoffs for the first time in its history. With the most wins in team history the 8-4-0 Huskies earned a spot in the conference quarterfinals, losing in penalty kicks to Regina. In 2013-14, the Huskies once again reached the quarter-finals, losing 2-0 to Trinity Western.
Jerson Barandica-Hamilton became the eighth head coach in women's soccer program history in 2014, after serving as an assistant coach for the Huskies men’s soccer team in 2012. Following the Huskies first trip to the national championship in program history, Barandica-Hamilton was named the first-ever full-time head coach in team history in 2017.
Named Canada West Coach of the Year in 2015-16, Barandica-Hamilton has led the Huskies to the playoffs in each of his seasons at the helm, highlighted by three Canada West medal finishes (2014-15, 2016-17, & 2023-24) and a national championship appearance in 2016-17.
Barandica-Hamilton's marks of 68 regular season wins and ten Canada West playoff victories are both program records.
The History - Historical Data, Statistics, Awards
Career Records
Individual Season Records
Year-by-Year Results
Playoff Results
All Time VS Opponents
WSOC Coaching Record
Canada West All-Stars
Canada West Awards
All-Canadians
U SPORTS Awards
Huskie Athletics Awards
All-Time Athlete List
