Ribeiro seeking to continue the Tiger soccer team’s dominance

With Vaz leaving Cowley to become the head coach at NCAA Division I Eastern Illinois University, Ribeiro was promoted from assistant coach to head coach of the Tigers.

"This will be a new challenge, but the transition was smooth," Ribeiro said.

Coming off a season in which they finished as conference and region champs before advancing to the national title game, where they lost in a shoot-out, the Tigers are eager to make another run at their first national championship.

"We are excited to work and hopefully be in the championship game again," Ribeiro said.

The Tigers have signed several talented freshmen to make up for the loss of 10 sophomores, including All-Americans Kohsuke Fukudome, Shogo Haraikawa, and Takeru Chiba.

"We are excited about the incoming group and will have good players at all positions," Ribeiro said. "They all want to grow and be a part of Cowley. The new guys will need to communicate with the sophomores and have everyone on the same page."

Midfielder Kanta Ishii, a First Team All-American and the Offensive Player of the Year in the Jayhawk Conference, highlights the list of returning players. Defender Jin Tokishi also returns after being named a First Team all-conference performer as a freshman.

"We do not have a big sophomore group, but the ones we have want to be here and we want them here," Ribeiro said.

Cowley will open the season by facing a pair of challenging out-of-conference foes in Lewis & Clark and Trinidad State before getting into the conference schedule.

"We play in a tough conference and will face some good competition," Ribeiro said.

The Tigers will be battle-tested before they even play a game, and hope that by putting in the work, they will continue their success.

"We try to make practice harder than the game," Ribeiro said. "The goal and our mentality is to keep winning."