Aidan Driedger, Jeremy Bassett and Zac Wood helped the Morden Thunder capture a championship banner during their high school soccer careers, spent this past summer playing in the Manitoba Major Soccer League with the Winkler Storm and South Central Riot and now they're trying to earn a Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference championship with the Brandon University Bobcats.

The three Morden Collegiate graduates from the class of 2019 have begun their first semester at BU.

"It just seemed like a good opportunity," explained Bassett when asked why they enrolled at Brandon University. "We heard they were an excellent team the previous year. We all got an offer to tryout for it so we showed up and we realized it was a good team. It kind of went that way."

Bassett's classes include Intermediate French, Teacher Identity and World History

Driedger is taking Biology, Chemistry and Psychology while Wood is attending English Literature, Psychology and Crime & Community classes during the first semester.

Wood says campus life has some challenges.

"It would have been a lot harder without the guys on the team. They really helped the transition. We have study groups together. It's tough. They told me only to take three courses this semester which was a good piece of advice. We spend three days a week training and we often have two games on the weekend so life as a student is manageable."

The Bobcats won a pair of exhibition games over Briercrest College and Ambrose University and then defeated St. Boniface 4-2 in their MCAC home opener.

"It's a bunch of guys from different towns that have all come together and there's so much skill," said Driedger. "The older guys have brought us in and showed us what the teams about. There is just so much professional and it's such a great club and organization to play for."

The BU midfielder found the back of the net in that victory over Les Rouges.

"It was amazing," Driedger said. "It was the go-ahead goal so it was awesome to get our team in front. It was just a great experience and feeling to score in the first game that I played. It was great."

Wood also scored in his first ever game in the MCAC.

"That was more exciting than any other goal that I ever scored," said the Bobcats defensive midfielder. "I was really hyped after I scored. Nobody else was really celebrating but me because we weren't playing so good in the first half. There's nothing like scoring a goal I guess."

The following day BU and Providence College played to a 1-1 draw.

"A much harder league to play in than high school," noted Bassett. "The more you play, the more you get used to it. It's a little more aggressive, a little more fast paced. The players - if you slack - will get by you. It's a little bit different but manageable."

Driedger, Bassett and Wood helped the Morden Thunder defeat the Steinbach Regional Secondary School 1-0 in the championship game at the 2017 Provincial Rural High School Soccer Championship in Niverville.

"That Sabres team was always giving us trouble and we just couldn't quite get past them," said Driedger. "To finally get past them, it was just such a relief. It was amazing. It was an amazing feeling."

"My first year of high school soccer, I was one of the smallest kids out on the field," added Bassett who plays left-back. "Me, Aidan and Zac couldn't do much, but in grade 11 we won provincials and in grade 12 it felt almost easy. We really excelled through high school and learned a lot in those four years."

The Bobcats will play 10 regular season games and the top four teams will advance to the MCAC Final Four.

Last years BU team went undefeated before losing the final to the Canadian Mennonite University Blazers.

So far this years rookie-laden Bobcats team is off to a good start.

"Every time we get on the field, including for training, we need to work hard," said Wood. "The season is only two months so we have to play hard and we have to pick up things a lot faster and really focus. Especially in practice."

The three former Thunder soccer players received high praise from their high school soccer coach.

"That's an exciting opportunity for them and it's neat to see them extend their soccer opportunities," said David Duerksen. "Those guys have worked hard at that. They went through the Winkler Wild program and worked a lot with Chad Bergen. There was a lot of work from community members that went into the development of those players. To make it to that university level is awesome to see."