BU look to reclaim soccer crown

Diego Rodriguez Jr. helped the Brandon University Bobcats become the top Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference men’s soccer team.

He left, and so did that title. Now, the former league MVP is set to make his head coaching debut as last year’s finalists open the regular season in Winnipeg on Sunday against Canadian Mennonite University.

“BU has been a program that has shown what it can do over the last few years, so I’m just here to provide my best work and just guide the guys who are showing a good amount of skill. They’re showing a lot of motivation, a lot of dedication during the pre-season camp,” Rodriguez Jr. said.

“If something doesn’t go as planned, I’m sure they will pick it up and just reflect on it and get better as they go.”

The Bobcats captured their first MCAC title in 2019, then defended it in 2021 following the season that was cancelled due to COVID-19. They lost the final in 2022 to the St. Boniface Les Rouges, then traded titles with the Winnipeg school over the past two years.

The last time Brandon wasn’t in the final was 2017, so the veteran corps certainly knows what it takes to succeed.

“I was lucky to find a group that they’re good players and they’re veterans. They’re players the new, incoming players may look up to, so it’s good they have the experience to lead and the skill to back up what they’re saying,” Rodriguez Jr. said, adding it might take some time for the team to adjust to his coaching.

“It’s a whole new process that they have to learn, and everything might seem messy at the beginning, but once they figure it out, things seem to fall in place.

“I want to be a team that likes to play with the ball. I want a team that’s always going to compete, I want them to be hungry to score lots of goals.”

The team is as experienced as any at the back, starting with Brazilian goalkeeper Matheus Souza and centre-backs Nathan Chubaty and Victor Lamb.

They’ll have a pair of smaller, speedy fullbacks flanking them in Lukas Weiss and Carter Wiebe, though the latter is one of a handful of players injured to start the season.

All-conference midfielder Matheus Ruffini is dealing with a foot injury and has to miss the season opener anyway due to a red card from last year’s final.

Brazilian Victor Andrade, who has been a starting defender and striker for the Bobcats, is in a walking boot due to a sprained ankle.

“We have a few injuries, we’re hoping that they’re not long-term,” Rodriguez Jr. said. “My job as a coach is to come with the players that are fit and bring out their best potential and make them the best they can be.”

New coaching and injuries could translate to a slower start this year.

While the Bobcats overcame a rarity last season in that they didn’t win a match until the third week of the season but still reached the league final, there’s a premium on strong regular-season play now.

The top team hosts the final four, rather than a rotating host school.

On the bright side for Brandon, it gets one of the best players in program history back, as Camilo (Nano) Rodriguez has returned.

The two-time league MVP, who elected to transfer to Keyano College last season but ultimately never played for the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference school, is back for one more run.

More than anyone else to wear BU blue and gold, his scoring ability can and has single-handedly changed games.

“It’ll help with Nano coming back to score goals,” Lamb said. “I feel like last year we are a solid defence the whole year, but we didn’t have that scoring power and the finish in the final third. If we can finish in the final third, take those opportunities that come, and convert on them, we’ll have a better start.”

The Bobcats will need a few guys to take a big step forward in replacing veteran strikers. Kevin Garcia, Sky Garcia, and Christian Murray are a few Rodriguez Jr. has seen big improvements in since last season.

The coach wants his team’s attack to be multi-dimensional.

“That’s my job, to make sure (Camilo) becomes one of our strengths, not one of our weaknesses, by playing the whole game around him,” he said. “He’s a very skillful player, has lots of technical abilities, so wherever I put him on the field, I know he’ll do a good (job).”

BU’s home opener is Sept. 13 against Providence at the Healthy Living Centre field, with the rest of its home game sites to be determined, either at the HLC field or Cougars Field at the new Maple Leaf Foods Sports Complex.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

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