Dinos Men's Soccer (0-0-0) – Season Opener
Thursday, Aug. 27 | Calgary vs. Mount Royal | McMahon Stadium | 4:30 PM | Buy Tickets | Live Stats

Calgary opens its 2026 season at home against the Mount Royal Cougars, the reigning Canada West champions, Thursday at McMahon Stadium. Head coach Ramon Mifflin enters his third season with the Dinos, overseeing a significantly younger roster, with 14 first-year players joining a returning core anchored by former Canada West All-Star and All-Rookie honourees Efe Udolu-Joshua, William Omoreniye and Joey Plenzik. The Dinos are looking to build on last season's playoff appearance, which ended with a 2-0 double-overtime loss to the Fraser Valley Cascades in the Canada West quarter-final. Calgary will have to replace Owen Antoniuk's production, a First Team All-Canadian who will remain with the Canadian Premier League's Cavalry FC after a strong summer. Mifflin's familiarity with much of the young roster should help the group come together quickly. Most of the newcomers have played with him at the Alberta Premier League's Calgary Blizzard, giving the Dinos built-in chemistry heading into the season.

Mount Royal enters 2026 off a national runner-up finish, having won a second Canada West title in program history before falling 1-0 in overtime to the York Lions in the U SPORTS gold medal match. The Cougars were picked second in the Canada West preseason coaches' poll, while the Dinos were ranked fourth.

The two sides met twice last year, with Calgary taking the most recent regular season contest 2-0 at Mount Royal.

Player to Watch: Joey Plenzik – The fifth-year defender takes over as team captain this season, succeeding his brother Gianmarco. His leadership will be crucial as the Dinos welcome a large group of newcomers to the roster.

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