DDFC aims to climb MMSL ladder

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This article was published 13/07/2020 (2010 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DDFC passed its first Manitoba Major Soccer League test with flying colours, meaning it only gets tougher from there.

The Brandon-based club, formerly named Double Decker FC, compiled a 15-0-2 record in its first MMSL season, winning the third division regular season title by five points over Sporting Club Mosaic (12-1-5). The two played to a pair of 2-2 ties last season, and coincidentally square off to open the 2020 campaign on Tuesday in Portage la Prairie at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re all excited. We’ve been biting at the bit there,” DDFC goalkeeper Nathan Braun said.

“We’ve been practising the last month, month and a half a couple of times a week to get some fitness and training in.

“It was nice to get together with the guys, see them, have that camaraderie. We’ve all been playing together for quite a long time now and we’re all still friends off the field, which is nice and helps us mesh well as a team.”

For reference, there are eight men’s divisions in the MMSL, meaning DDFC jumped into the top half as the top two teams in each tier are promoted — and bottom two are relegated — based on the 18-game regular season.

But the third division might not be DDFC’s ceiling. The club put forth a noteworthy run in the Bison Cup, a knockout tournament open to any of the non-premier division squads. DDFC ousted Scotia United SC, a mid-level first division squad last year, 4-0 in the quarterfinals.

It fell 5-1 to Granite United in the semis, but Braun was certainly pleased with his group’s effort.

“That was a really good representation for us,” he said.

“I’d been in that league previously … so I kind of knew what the Winnipeg league was like. I thought the fourth was a pretty good placement for our team and it turned out we actually quite handedly beat most of the teams.”

The Bison Cup games were played in Winnipeg, but otherwise it’s a somewhat unique schedule. All DDFC games take place at the Republic of Manitobah Park in Portage to cut down on driving time for both sides.

Braun chuckled that some teams had more motivation than others to make the trip.

“There was a couple of teams you’d beat them once by a score of 6-0, they wouldn’t really want to come to the second game, drive an hour to get beat that badly,” Braun said.

“But moving up I think the competition will be a lot tighter. More of these teams practise a lot more often than some of the teams in the lower divisions, so it’ll be good competition for us for sure.”

DDFC loses a few key pieces in Chris Dobson and Julio Rodriguez, who scored 10 and six goals in 2019, respectively.

They return leading scorer Norvin Campos (12 goals) and Kyle Grier (eight goals), with the addition of Pizza Express Inspire FC forward Andriy Trokhym.

Braun said defender Joel Snyder is expected to step into Rodriguez’s midfield role.

“This year he’s really taking a responsibility, stepping up and being more of a voice,” Braun said. “He’s moving from the back end into the midfield and he’s been working hard on his touch this summer to get better in that position.

“Norvin up front, he’s a really key striker for us. He scores a lot of goals. He’s deceiving up there. He’s quick and good with the ball.

“Raul (Zelaya) in the midfield slows the pace of the game down for us … if things are going too quickly, he’ll settle it down, pass it backwards and tell everybody to chill out.”

Braun is a calming presence as well. The 28-year-old jumped into the under-14 game at age 10 in Neepawa, playing with his older brother, who was the keeper at the time. He led the team in scoring a few seasons, then tried his hand in net when his brother moved on to join an older group.

“I fell in love with it, was really good at it and got invited to the premier team in Brandon when I was 15,” said Braun, adding he enjoys the mental challenge of the commanding the penalty area for 90 minutes.

“Other sports I’ve played, goalie in hockey, setter in volleyball, quarterback in football growing up, all the positions I’ve away played I’ve had to use my mind mentally more than anything else physically.

“I’m a really big overthinker. I diagnose things to the utmost so that position for me always made sense.”

DDFC can expect an uphill battle, regularly playing much stiffer competition than a season ago, including two teams that spent 2019 in the second division. The team’s last game was a disappointing fourth division semifinal upset, 3-2 to Elmwood FC in September.

Braun admitted the team isn’t great playing from behind but hopes to improve on it.

“Sometimes our communication on the field can be lacking sometimes. We’re not used to being down sometimes because we are used to winning quite a bit,” Braun said.

“If we do get down early, we can get inside of our own heads with each other. It’s nice that we have most of the same guys coming back again and certain guys that know how to settle the group down … and get back to our style of football.”

 

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