Senior Men's soccer starts up tonight in Portage la Prairie.

Both the Portage Cobras and Portage Fusion open their Manitoba Major Soccer League regular seasons at Rotary Republic Park.

The Fusion have dropped down from Division 4 to Division 5 after going 1-16-1 last year. They've made the move this season in hopes of being more competitive and returning to D-4 in the future.

"It's nice to get an early game at home," says player Glenn MMcColloch. "It'll be nice to get some of our new guys out and integrated into the team a little bit quicker than last year. We have six new guys this year, the other 14 or so are returning, but those new faces should give us some youth, some speed, and some excitement."

The Fusion face Elmwood FC tonight. They take the field at Rotary Republic Park at 7 p.m.

The Cobras will look to improve on their 9-8-1 season in Division 6 last year when they finished 4th to end the regular season. They kick off the D-6 season tonight against Les Bleus, also at Rotary Republic Park.

"We're sitting right around 20-21 guys again this season," says player Chad Green. "We lost about four or five guys, but we brought that many, so we're about equal. I think we'll be a little better than last year, especially since most of them played together so we should gel right off the bat. We've been practicing for about a month now so I think we're ready to go."

The Cobras and Les Blues get going at 7 p.m. as well.