Bobcat women chase fourth straight soccer title

Jorja Hoad didn’t know she was joining something special when she stepped onto the Healthy Living Centre field for the first time.

She went from redshirt to substitute to Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference women’s soccer’s leading scorer and three-time champion.

Now entering her final season with her hometown Brandon University Bobcats women’s soccer team, she is embracing everything she has worked for.

The co-captain gets to help her team chase a fourth straight title alongside her younger twin sisters, Tessa and Chelsey.

“I’m really excited. It’s my last year, it’s their first year and I’m really excited to have a season with them,” Jorja Hoad said, adding that having brother Declan on the men’s team has been special. “Having all four of us here is really unique, and I’m glad we get to do it all together for my last year.

“A lot of the girls on this team, I’ve coached before. It’s interesting to see; I’ve coached them, been in a leadership role. Now they’re my teammates and we’re together, which is really cool.”

The Bobcats open the 12-match regular season at home against the St. Boniface Les Rouges on Saturday at 3:15 p.m., following the 1 o’clock men’s match. Brandon stays home to face Providence on Sunday at 3:15 p.m.

BU then hits the road for Canadian Mennonite University on Sept. 19, and visits Assiniboine College for a rare Wednesday night game on Sept. 23 at 8:15 p.m.

The season is split into three sets of games against all four opponents, and wraps up with back-to-back home games against Providence and Assiniboine on Oct. 24 and 25, respectively.

The Bobcats have navigated both the regular season and the final-four weekend incredibly well for the past three years, claiming a top seed and enjoying easier semifinals to stay fresh for the gold-medal match. Hoad credits the players in her recruit class for laying that foundation.

“We had a lot of incoming talent we could continue building on, but having so many returning players … having the same group year after year, to build on that and recognize each other’s strengths has been helpful,” Hoad said, adding they made it easy for her to jump in as a rookie a year behind them.

“It was incredible. Everyone was so supportive and knew what kind of goal they had personally and as a team. Stepping into that was great because I was supported on and off the field.”

That group, led by all-conference players Kenadie Janzen and Brogan Henry, is leaving some massive gaps to fill this year. “It’s hard to say who’s going to replace them because everybody has different skills,” said head coach Diego Rodriguez Sr. “It’s a new team, a new formula, new strategies.”

Rodriguez was able to rely on senior goalkeeper Josie Black year in and year out, but will be forced to play a less experienced one this season. He liked the progress Casey Lamoureux made before getting injured last season, and said she’s the No. 1 to start the season, with Allison Beaumont and Becca Collier also on the roster.

Thankfully, all-conference centre-back Victoria Gonzalez is back for her third year and ready to step up as a captain, along with Hoad and Keashae Masters.

“Really exciting. As a centre-back, I’ve been put in that role to help the girls out because I can see the whole field, so I’ll help them out more with that leadership,” Gonzalez said, adding that it will take time for the whole team to adjust this fall.

“Those girls already knew from the start what they wanted to do to guide the team. It’s about building that trust with everybody on how we want to play our style, and changing our style compared to what those older girls did.”

Gonzalez will have plenty of support at the back from fellow Saskatchewan natives Sofia Kalyar and Sara Switzer, while Hoad and Masters will look to lead the way up front, coming off a 2025 season when Hoad scored 10 times and Masters added five.

This season, the No. 1 seed earns the right to host the playoffs on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. The winners head to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national tournament on Nov. 11-14 in Cambridge, Ont.

The Bobcats played two pre-season games against the University of Regina Cougars. Gonzalez liked her team’s start to the first game, before the U Sports program eventually took over. While there are a few unknowns with the new BU group, Gonzalez wants to see one thing from the opening whistle.

“It’s just keeping that intensity up,” she said.

“Yes, the first game we might not score really quick, six goals. But our first 30 minutes, our intensity is going to be ideal from what practices have been and (pre-season) games have shown.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com