Bobcat women chase another MCAC sweep
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The Brandon University Bobcats have another trophy to defend, one that’s continuously getting tougher to win.
The three-time defending Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference women’s soccer champions hit the hardcourt on Saturday at home against the Assiniboine College Cougars, 10 months after capturing their first-ever women’s futsal title.
“We’re excited. We’re missing a lot of key girls this time around but we’re excited to see what the rookies can do in futsal and excited to get going again,” said third-year Mackenzie Boyes.
The Brandon University Bobcats begin the MCAC women’s futsal season at home on Saturday against Assiniboine College. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
The Bobcats are without a handful of high-impact soccer players, including defender Tarin Ballan, striker Brogan Henry and goalkeeper Josie Black, but still have plenty of depth to roll through the eight-game campaign.
Veterans Kenadie Janzen, Bien Van Berkel, Victoria Gonzalez-Castillo and Jorja Hoad should see big minutes, while Boyes expects a few rookies to step up.
“Laure (Dizengremel) for sure. In outdoor, she was a runner but she’s really surprising everybody with her technical ability as well,” Boyes said. “Sofia (Kalyar), she’s a workhorse … and Tia (Wagar), one of our redshirts, is doing really well, so I think she’ll surprise everybody.”
While to an outsider, it simply looks like small-sided soccer, the five-on-five game isn’t easy to adjust to.
For Boyes, who loves to dribble and create shots for herself on the outdoor pitch, those opportunities are fewer and much further between.
“You don’t have any space. People are constantly on you; it’s a way quicker game. You can’t run with the ball, you’re going to get it taken from you,” Boyes said, adding no one can take a break on the floor.
“Your mental break is when you’re sitting on the bench. After you’ve had a quick three- or four-minute shift, your mental break is ‘OK, what am I going to do next.’”
Futsal also tends to have more parity than soccer, since all of the teams have at least a few great players, but some lack the depth to win the one-on-one battles across an 11-on-11 match.
This year, the soccer league featured BU and Providence dominating the other three teams and pushing each other, with BU ultimately capturing a 3-0 decision in the final.
The Bobcats don’t expect it to be so simple.
“All of the teams are way stronger in futsal because those key players can be the ones that play the whole game,” Boyes said. “AC always comes out way harder in futsal, they’re great, same with every other team.”
BU MEN HUNGRY AFTER FINAL LOSS
On the men’s side, the Bobcats last walked off a pitch in anguish, having lost 2-1 in extra time in the outdoor final to Canadian Mennonite University.
From head coach Diego Rodriguez Jr.’s perspective, his guys have taken the positives away and come back ready to roll.
Matheus Ruffini and the BU men came up one game shy of an outdoor soccer title, and will look to cap the year on a high note. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
“The group’s pretty happy. They’ve shown a lot of progress throughout the outdoor season and we just have to carry the momentum towards the indoor season,” Rodriguez Jr. said.
“They came back hungry and ready to win.”
Rodriguez Jr. brings plenty of experience as a player in the league, and knows what this game takes to be successful.
He said at the start, the Bobcats will go as the seniors do, and has a great group of them, including Camilo Rodriguez, Matheus Ruffini and Bryson Haywood with Matheus Souza in goal.
But he doesn’t want to be overly reliant on a few guys.
“A lot of my seniors are going to be key to my game. They simply have the experience. Futsal is a much faster game, so they’re used to the tempo and they’re also doing a much better job guiding the young athletes,” Rodriguez Jr. said. “As they get more playing time and experience, they’ll adapt in no time.
“We’ll come up as a team, not necessarily specific individuals that really shine because we’re all working towards the same goal.”
BU opens against AC at Henry Champ Gymnasium on Saturday at 11:45 a.m., following the 10 o’clock women’s match.
The Bobcats visit the St. Boniface Les Rouges on Sunday, then have a three-game home stand against the Blazers (Jan. 24), Les Rouges (Jan. 25) and Pilots (Jan. 31).
They finish with three road games, wrapping up against the Cougars at Assiniboine on Feb. 13.
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com