Bobcats set for futsal title defence

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This article was published 10/01/2023 (617 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like the Brandon University Bobcats but find soccer too slow? Like soccer but despise freezing on a late-October afternoon to watch? You’re in luck.

The Bobcats kick off their Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference seasons on Saturday at 12:45 p.m., with the women at Henry Champ Gymnasium and men at Assiniboine Community College against Canadian Mennonite University, followed by evening contests against St. Boniface at 6 o’clock.

BU men’s coach Glen McNabb hasn’t needed to boost motivation in his group after a 4-3 outdoor final upset a few months ago.

“Especially the returning guys that have been there before and had a championship, then lost, then had another championship, we don’t want to have a repeat of another loss,” McNabb said of the 2019 and 2022 futsal champs.

The team lost MVP Diego Rodriguez but showed few signs of slowing down on the outdoor pitch. Now in the five-on-five indoor game, they possess a lethal combination of top-end talent and depth to survive the eight-game campaign.

Camilo Rodriguez can score from anywhere with his cannon of a left foot, while Matheus Ruffini, Bryson Haywood, Sam Wetstein and Zach Wood bring plenty of speed and technical ability to give opponents fits.

Wood — an all-conference outdoor midfielder — chuckles at how far he’s come since his rookie season.

“My coach thought I already played so he just threw me out there and started yelling at me when I started doing stuff wrong, so, just about everything,” he said of what he’s improved upon.

Wood said the keys to futsal success are to play fast and rotate, and while it appears a positionless sport, it’s “a game of repeated patterns,” similar to hockey systems.

He expects second-year Rodrigo Melgar to emerge as a weapon after the two played some Latino Soccer League futsal games together.

“He thinks fast, which is a lot more of a big thing in futsal than it is in outdoor,” Wood said.

McNabb was new to the fast-paced game when he started helping with the BU women’s team in 2019. The former BU hockey player finds it a unique cross between his two sports, with the obvious parallels to soccer but hockey-like substitutions on the fly and matchup decisions that impact the game far more than in 11-on-11 soccer.

“Who plays well together? The combinations you want to have out there (are important),” McNabb said. “And the opposition, too. Who do you want defending against certain players on the other team?”

The Bobcats lost just one game in a COVID-19-shortened 2022 season, averaging nine goals per game while going 3-1. They beat Providence 11-7 in the semifinals, then CMU 11-5 in the title game.

The Brandon women, on the other hand, beat the Cougars 4-3 in their first game but never won again, falling 6-1 to St. Boniface in the semifinals.

The Bobcats were young as anyone in the league, and second-year Deja Newell noticed how important futsal experience is.

“Other teams had systems and we didn’t really know what to do going into it. Our practices were very playing-centred. We played a lot but didn’t necessarily focus on set plays,” Newell said.

“Going into this year, it’s easier for us to recognize what stuff we need to work on to compete at the same level as other teams.”

They have plenty of strong midfielders back and ready to attack, led by Brogan Henry and Kylie Van De Woestyne. Newell said the midfield corps, including rookie Jocelyn Heald, has been strong in training.

One of the keys to success is finding an identity and committing to it. Some are conservative and want to grind out low-scoring games. That isn’t BU.

“High pressure and just attacking,” Newell said. “Moving the ball around is creating gaps and obviously we’re going to see against different teams if that’s going to work but just playing together and seeing where we can … create those gaps has been good.”

The Bobcats will look a little different as Diego Rodriguez Sr. is taking over the tactical side of coaching while head coach Danielle Sanjenko takes care of recruiting. She’s moving on after the season.

“We thank Danielle for her leadership the past two years and efforts to continue growing the soccer program at BU,” athletic director Russ Paddock said in a release. “Danielle’s dedication to the program and the student-athletes she led is appreciated.”

The Bobcats and Cougars head to Niverville on Jan. 22 as Providence hosts matches, then swap Wheat City sites as the men play at BU and women take the ACC court on Feb. 4. The regular season wraps up at St. Boniface on Feb. 12.

CMU is hosting playoffs. MCAC has not announced dates.

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