There’s no doubt that these lads are all Sudbury Cyclones.
The logo proudly emblazoned on their chest, the collection of talent enter battle with the rallying cry of the second-year League1 franchise still resonating in their heads.
It’s just that some are more “SUDBURY” Cyclones than others.
Once again this summer, there is local content to be found in the team’s lineup, with Brandon Moxam as the only returnee, while keeper and former OUA all-star Connor Vande Weghe makes his return to the competitive pitch and Blake Rosener moves up one level of play within the organization.
A graduate of St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, Moxam has tackled the off-season with a vastly different outlook given a rookie year that saw him appear in just eight games for the Cyclones last summer.
“I had issues staying healthy last year,” said the 27-year-old wingback, who spent some time playing professionally in Spain a few years back. “One of the biggest takeaways for me, going into the league, was that I should have been more physically prepared for it.
“Coming into this year, we needed to sharpen up — not just me, but everybody, be more physical.”
That said, there is little doubt that Moxam’s game is built around quickness and speed; he’s a 5-7 dynamo who doesn’t shy away from the physical component of soccer.
“You have to pick and choose your moments,” said Moxam. “You can’t always go in 100 per cent on the challenges. Sometimes you step off and wait for the right moment. It’s just playing smarter so that you’re not putting yourself in dangerous situations.”
While Moxam is thrilled with the fact that the Cyclones were promoted to Championship Division status, he and the other returnees are fully aware that technically speaking, the team did fall just short of earning the automatic promotion that came with finishing first last year.
“We’re going to have to go out there and prove that we deserve to be in this league, that we have what it takes to compete in this league,” he said. “I think what we had last year was a very strong foundation in our style of play, conceding few goals while we were still very clinical.”
A team MVP on multiple occasions during his time with the Laurentian Voyageurs, local goalkeeper Connor Vande Weghe is making his return to highly competitive soccer for the first time since 2018, thanks in part to some gentle prodding on the side.
“When I played men’s league (the past few years), everybody I talked to suggested I should play Cyclones,” said Vande Weghe, 27, who is a former teammate of Moxam’s with the St. Benedict Bears. “I felt a lot of community support around me.
“There’s too many people to name, but I really do appreciate the support and that’s what has me out here right now.”
For those who have not watched the OUA all-star perform since his time at Laurentian, they might be in for a bit of a surprise.
“I’ve gained about ten pounds in a month – and that’s a good thing,” Vande Weghe said. “My playing weight at university was listed at maybe 180, but I was below that, for sure.
“I am coming in here at 200 pounds and more power, more strength is a good thing. It allows me to play bigger than when I was at university.”
As for his keys to success on a personal level, that much has not changed, regardless of the loop in which he suits up between the posts.
“As a goalkeeper, it comes down to communication: communication with the defenders, communication into the midfield,” Vande Weghe said. “If you can keep a well organized defensive unit, you’re never going to have a problem.”
By comparison to his more seasoned teammates, 19-year-old St Charles College graduate and Laurentian Voyageurs’ sophomore defender Blake Rosener is much less acclimatized to what he is about to face this summer, though he’s getting there.
“For me, it’s just adjusting to the pace of the game,” said Rosener. “It’s a lot quicker and a lot more physical than what I was used to. But I find the competition in the OUA is pretty similar and it’s a similar style of play, so that helps, for sure.”
Speaking of which, for as much as Rosener did not play directly under Cyclones head coach Giuseppe Politi last summer, he is more than comfortable with the strategic preferences of the man who holds more coaching licenses than anyone in the city.
“I would say it’s a fairly defensively focused counter attacking kind of style of play,” said Rosener. “But we also like to keep the ball. It’s one of Giuseppe’s pet peeves, to not just give the ball away.”
Randy Pascal is a sportswriter in Greater Sudbury. Pursuit is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.