He’s ready for history to repeat itself.
Long Island University senior Brian Paredes was captain of his high-school soccer team in Queens and, now, heading into his senior season with the Blackbirds, the standout defender is set to step back into the leadership spotlight.
But his path to this role — and his role on the field itself — has changed a bit over the years.
Originally recruited as a midfielder, starting in his sophomore season Paredes slowly transitioned into a defender. He says that while the change was difficult at times, it has been mostly positive for both himself and the team.
“I realized that [defending] was my specialty, what I love doing, and that’s what the coaches saw, that I was a better defender,” Paredes said. “I’m open to criticism, so I take that and I move forward. I’ve been playing the centerback position here and … I’ve handled it pretty well.”
This season, Paredes will get a chance draw on the experience he got as a leader at Newtown to hone his skills as an on-the-field leader for the Blackbirds.
“In high school, coach put me in a position where I could lead the team … and now this year I kind of have a voice,” he said. “Last year I wasn’t a captain so I didn’t have much of a voice, but on the field I tried to motivate the guys as much as I could. This year I’m trying to do the exact same thing, lead the team to success.”
If LIU-Brooklyn can build off its 2016 success this season, by year’s end Paredes should be able to call his tenure as captain a success. The Blackbirds finished in third place in the Northeast Conference last fall and made an appearance in the conference tournament before falling to Saint Francis.
The goal for Paredes and his teammates in 2017 is to make it back to the tournament, and ultimately the NCAA tournament. If offseason workouts are any indication of a team’s in-season success, Paredes believes LIU-Brooklyn can potentially do just that.
“We are much better at this point in the preseason than we were last year, which is great for us,” he said. “Everyone is working hard, the rhythm of play is great, I feel like our guys this year are bringing a lot.”
Paredes went on to note that he felt as though the Blackbirds did not play enough for each other near the end of their 2016 season, and that he expects that to change heading into a new year.
“We didn’t have enough heart to find the result that we wanted to,” he said. “I feel like that’s gonna change.”
LIU-Brooklyn will get an early indication whether Paredes’s predictions are accurate; the team faces stiff tests on the road against Western Michigan, Detroit and North Carolina State.
“It’s a big test to see where we’re at against high-quality teams,” he said. “I think that will really help us out for our conference [play] coming in October.”
