Forget Canada West; as of Oct. 6, Mateo Brazinha is the third-highest leading scorer in all of U Sports, racking up 14 points in 12 Games Played (GP). Brazinha is abrasive; constantly getting in defender’s kitchens and preventing their ability to break out cleanly. It took Brazinha barely five minutes to find the back of the net in the Cascades’ season opener on Aug. 23, making the UNBC Timberwolves pay for putting the ball in a costly position.
“I saw Age (Adriano Consiglio) down the right wing, and Age usually swims in a good ball… ” said Brazinha of his opening marker. “The ball was put in a dangerous area … and I think I was just the first to react out of me and the defenders. It’s almost like an instinct where … ‘okay, it’s going back across the box? I’ve got to get there!’ It’s pure instinct — I see it going to a dangerous position — I’m going to absolutely throw my body at that.”
Brazinha is a difficult assignment for defenses to lock down. His game isn’t built around possession, it’s built around his core strength and agility. In the season opener, Brazinha showed he can score from anywhere on the field. Where does he think he’s the most dangerous?
“Down the channels, I love to make runs down those wide areas…” said Brazinha. “I love to be on the shoulder of the defender. I’m not a big guy, so I can’t really hold off guys — what I can do is put it around them. Anywhere behind the defense. I live in those areas.”
Brazinha’s second of the game came just before the end of the first half at Rotary Stadium.
“This is an example of the area that I call my office down the channels…” Brazinha explains on his second tally. “I saw Kevin (Mailand) had his head up, and on his weak foot played a fantastic ball.” Once Brazinha received the pass from Mailand, he described, “I saw one guy coming from behind me and another coming from beside me — so I knew the space was behind them — I thought I backed myself in a race.” Brazinha headed the ball forward before regaining control, “I one-touched it past the defenders and once I knew I was beating them, it was purely about staying composed and making sure that whenever I have the goalie in a critical last 30 seconds of a half, I have to put it away.”
Part of his four point night included an assist, of which he calls “another prime example of Mateo Brazinha running into the channels.” The Cascades’ leading scorer said, “When I saw Michael (Beecroft) on the ball in that area — Michael has a great long ball — so I knew he saw me … and being pretty good friends, I knew exactly where the ball was going … right down the channel.”
Avoiding stepping out of bounds, Brazinha drove into chaos and set up teammate Joel Bangura, picking up his third point of the evening.
Brazinha said on the play, “I had to wait a little bit. I was lucky [the defender] didn’t pressure me too much at the start. I could see Joel making his run, and I knew if I put it in an area that the goalie was uncomfortable with, that Joel would want the ball. When I saw him in that area it was a pick out that I felt like I had to make. I was happy for Joel.”
Brazinha had never scored a hat trick in Canada West, and said he “rarely” scored three times in a game growing up. How much do you think he wanted his third goal of the night?
“Right when Dante (Colebourne) got the ball — he’s a very creative player — I was absolutely screaming,” recalled Brazinha on his hat trick goal. “I saw the gap through the middle and I knew he’s very game smart, so I knew that he’d see it too. This was a very messy goal, but a great ball by Dante. I knew he saw it.”
On his celebratory knee slide, Brazinha said the team was waiting for the right opportunity. “The game plan before was someone’s gotta do a knee slide; the game’s perfect for it. That’s why I decided to do it.” Describing how he felt in the moment Brazinha said, “I was on top of the world, on top of the world.”
For the rest of the season Brazinha said, “I’m more motivated than ever, I’ve never been so fired up in my entire life.” He went on, “going into pre-season, I was like, I want this. And now, because [we’ve had] a decent start, I am so fired up. I want to win so bad. I want this team to win, I’m so determined. I think all the boys are, and that collectively has helped us so much. We’re all determined to go out there and prove everyone wrong, prove the rankings wrong, and prove every other person in Canada West wrong.”
In only his third year at UFV, Brazinha has set the program record for assists with seven so far this season, tops in Canada West. His seven goals on the year rank second in Canada West. As the team marches toward the play-offs, watch for Brazinha bursting down the flanks, cutting through the channels.
