Cougars soccer teams destined for dominance in 2024
Noah Wilson, Contributor & Zafir Nagji, Sports Editor |
Since joining USPORTS in 2012, the Mount Royal University Cougars have just one national championship and two conference championships. The 2023 women’s hockey team secured USPORTS and Canada West gold medals, while the same year’s men’s soccer team secured their first Canada West gold medal on their home field.
Now in 2024, the men’s and women’s soccer Canada West seasons are underway, and both Cougars teams are looking forward to improving on last season’s performances. For the men’s team, this means going back-to-back in Canada West championships and securing their first ever USPORTS gold medal. For the women’s team, it means maximizing their new talent, combining it with their veteran leadership, and improving on a disappointing 2023 campaign to qualify for the Canada West playoffs.
Sit down for a good read, Cougars fans, as the athletes themselves tell you why you should pay attention to the football pitch in 2024.
Women’s soccer
After a tough 4-7-3 record in 2023, the women’s soccer team has returned to the football field with a slew of skilled rookies and returning veteran talents. This deadly combination of elements has transformed their projected trajectory from ranking 10th overall in the 2024 Canada West Preseason Poll to being the fifth most proficient goal scoring team in the conference. Their seven goals scored in just four games have made them the pluckiest underdog in the conference, punching up at some of the best teams in the country.
One of those returning veterans is fourth-year, Calgary-born forward, Catriona McFadden. McFadden went through a year and a half of injury struggles, including multiple concussions, tearing her hamstring, labrum and MCL, and sustaining a stress fracture on her foot, McFadden finally made her return to the pitch in the Cougars’ second game of the 2024 season.
“I was in a boot for the last three months and then they let me out of it just to play [against UNBC],” McFadden said. “It was just such a series [of injuries]. I was just like it would be cool if I ever get to play again.”
McFadden was a standout performer in her first game back though, tallying a goal and an assist on the Cougars’ way to a dominant 4-0 win. That earned her Players’ Bench Cougar of the Week honours but to her, it was about being grateful to do what she loved most agai
“I just felt lucky, like it feels unreal because I missed playing so much,” McFadden said. “Part of the fun is winning and scoring goals and whatever else… I’m just feeling super lucky to be back.”
A true leader of her squad, McFadden still found a way to humbly credit her teammates for their instrumental role in orchestrating such a remarkable performance.
“It’s fun this year because we have so much talent on the field,” McFadden said. “My team put both of those opportunities on a platter for me. I didn’t have to do a whole lot of work to get there.”
McFadden may have missed the majority of the 2023 season, but that gave her a unique perspective to share on what the team struggled with most on their way to an underwhelming record of four wins, seven losses and three ties.
“I think culture has a huge part to play in it. I think that last year was a lot of just like, ‘oh, I have to be here, I have to do this,’” McFadden said. “This year, I felt like I’ve never been on a team that’s loved each other this much. Obviously we have a lot of first year players so it’s crazy that we’ve kind of built that culture so quickly.”
McFadden attributes that bunsen-burning chemistry to team captain, Isabella Chirico, and her ability to unite each member of the squad.
“[Chirico] is all about bringing each other in and demanding more from each other in a positive way. And I think that last year we might have been a little bit scared to step on each other’s toes, but this year we’re really comfortable demanding more from each other and pushing each other to be better.”
Chirico, McFadden, and the rest of the women on the team have completely transformed the energy of the squad and with the influx of young talent, the team has a much deeper roster than it did in 2023. It’s not one or two changes that have led to this newfound swagger, but rather a wholesale shift giving way to new beginnings.
“It’s hard to pick out one thing because I think it’s just night and day, like we have so many new pieces,” McFadden said. “We have a lot more depth this year in every single position, if you make a sub, it’s not going to change the level on the pitch.”
“That’s huge because in past years, especially like in my first year here, if we would make a sub, it would just change the energy on the pitch. This year we have a lot of players that play similarly in the same positions. And so it’s like if Dany comes out, Dezirae Funfer is really playing that dynamically as well. We have four extremely strong center backs and it doesn’t make a huge difference if one gets subbed.”
McFadden’s enthusiasm about the rest of the season is impossible to hide, and she wants Cougars fans to know that this team is going to be worth watching all year long.
“I don’t know if I’ve felt this excited to play soccer in a long time,” McFadden said.
The women’s soccer team is currently 1-2 at the time of writing, headed into a four-game road trip where they will face the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, Trinity Western University Spartans, University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat, and Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack before returning to Mount Royal Field 2 for a Sept. 27 matchup against the Spartans.
Men’s soccer
Last season the men’s soccer team was able to accomplish something incredible.
By winning the 2023 Canada West championship, they were awarded their first-ever gold medal on their home field and were recognized as the #1 soccer team in Canada at the U Sports National Championship in which they placed fourth.
Although they did not reach their ultimate goal of the nationwide championship, they had a spectacular journey to get to that stage which featured so many new heights for the squad.
Cougars’ star Miguel Da Rocha elaborated on how much this experience meant to his team.
“Well, it was just a surreal feeling,” said Da Rocha. “It’s what we were working on. We wanted that. That was our goal. So actually achieving it, at least for me after being here for so long, it felt amazing.”
The 2023 Cougars squad proved they could compete with the best and set the bar for what the 2024 men’s squad will want to replicate.
Heading into this season, the team will be without a few key acquisitions that were instrumental to their success in 2023.
This past offseason, the Cougars lost star players, David Schaeffer, to the Victoria Highlanders of the Canadian Premier League, and Niko Myroniuk who signed with our very own Calgary Calvary.
Schaeffer and Myroniuk were dynamic scoring pieces that helped fuel the Cougar’s offence all of last season. Myroniuk in particular played so great that he was awarded with Canada West’s First All-Rookie team.
The impact of these players will be forever missed as they broke records, won games, and most importantly, dominated the pitch.
This departure of key players has opened the door for new players to step up to fill these holes in the lineup.
For Da Rocha, as a fifth-year veteran this grants him an opportunity to take on a role he’s never had in his career, to be a leader the team relies upon.
“It’s a good experience to have that feeling of now I have to embrace this new role,” Da Rocha explained. “And give what I was given, like what other leaders gave to me when I was one of the younger players. I’m trying to portray that to our new players. We have so many rookies this year. A lot of them are seeing minutes, which is huge.So just managing them and making sure they feel comfortable with what they’re doing, I think is pretty important.”
He is also mindful of the departures but is optimistic the team will be able to overcome them.
“There were definitely some hard losses from last year,” Da Rocha said. “But I mean that’s that’s every team right? Every team has players that graduate and move on. So you just have to adapt and keep doing your best.”
With all that being said, the 2024 team will not be without its share of studs, and players looking to build on last season’s success.
Team captain Caden Rogozinki had an amazing 2023 season. He was awarded the Canada West Defensive Player of the Year Award, the Cougars MVP award, and was named to the First-Team All-Canadian and First-Team All-Star squads.
This plethora of awards from the Cougars captain was a testament to the kind of aggressive play he provided all season long for MRU.
On top of that, MRU is also home to the reigning 2023 Male Rookie of the Year, Aidan Dumoulin who will also be looking to continue his dominance in goal for the Cougars after coming off a sensational rookie year. Once fully healed from his injury, look for Dumoulin as one of the Cougars’ biggest factors for 2024.
When looking at some of the Cougar’s top performers from last season, mid-fielder Miguel Da Rocha had a generational playoff performance last season. As they progressed through each game of the Canada West Playoffs, Da Rocha elevated his game to a higher and higher level.
This offensive surge from Da Rocha continued in the National Championship as he was the only Cougar to score throughout those games. That put him and the Cougars on notice for this upcoming season and he will be relied upon as one of the Cougars’ most dangerous threats heading into 2024. However, opposing defences now know to hunt for Da Rocha more fervently, but he and the coaching staff have been preparing innovative strategies to combat that.
“It’s not been easy, especially because we’re playing in our training field, with less space,” Da Rocha said. “It’s a bit more crowded. It works for those teams to cut off those spaces in the middle for me to work with.”
“I’m not really getting the ball with those areas that I would want to. But, you have to adapt. And then like I said, [the coaches] give us the tools and then we need to make the decisions on the field.”
The Cougars kicked off their season on August 24th with a windy matchup against the University of Lethbridge where the teams drew at a 0-0 tie.
Mount Royal then followed this game up with a 2-1 victory versus the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s soccer team, then rounded out three hard-fought battles against the Dinos, Griffins, and Golden Bears, all resulting in 1-1 ties.
The Cougar’s record now sits at 1-0-4 with their next two games on the road against the Trinity Western University Spartans and Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack before returning to Mount Royal Field 2, to host the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves on Sept. 20.
For the men, this season will feature some growing pains, but also some incredible opportunities for many players on this roster. This season will be one of redemption for the squad, with the ultimate goal being to finish the job this time around and win a national title for the first time in Cougars history.
Both teams have lofty goals to achieve, but neither squad is backing down from the pressure. Canada West is a competitive conference to battle in, but as McFadden and Da Rocha are indicating to Cougars fans, MRU will do their best to claw its way to winning seasons and bring home championship jewelry. Home games take place on Mount Royal Field 2 and all games are available to stream on Canada West TV.
