Cougars' midfielders might have you thinking you're seeing double

When Assiniboine Cougar midfielders Nickolas and Greg Eu hit the soccer field, you might think you’re seeing double.

But while the identical 18-year-old twins may look alike, they each bring their own set of strengths to the team and challenge each other to be better.

“We play similar but there’s definitely differences,” Greg said. “I think we feed off each other’s energy a lot. If one person is having a great game then the other person’s going to have a great game. If one of us isn’t really feeling it, it’s hard to get into it.”

“When I see my brother doing well — stopping people, making great passes — it makes me want to play better,” Nickolas added.

The twins have been playing soccer together since around Grade 3, they said, when their mom enrolled them in a spring soccer camp in Neepawa where they grew up.

“We’ve always sort of been into soccer, we were both pretty into it when we were kids,” Greg said, adding they played spring soccer up until Grade 8, when they joined the high school team.

It’s was Nickolas’s first goal on the high school team that really solidified his love of the sport, he said.

“We were in Grade 9 so I wasn’t expecting much, but we were pretty good. I was the left winger and I went for the cross, and the ball ended up in the top right corner of the net … it was pretty crazy. Everyone was pretty hyped about it, it was an important goal that led us to a win,” Nickolas said. “It made me feel pretty good.”

Greg remembers the goal that also made him fall in love with the game. It was during a tied game against Neepawa’s rival team from Minnedosa.

“I was playing forward and I got a pass to break through and I scored the goal. We ended up winning the game,” Greg said. “That was probably my moment.”

Although Nickolas and Greg didn’t get to play as much as they would have liked in their grad 11 and 12 years due to Covid-19, their coach—who used to play for the Assiniboine Cougars— encouraged them look into Assiniboine and pursue soccer at a college level.

Both Nickolas and Greg were already considering Assiniboine for their post-secondary education, and the college’s soccer program sealed the deal.

They both enrolled in Assiniboine’s Business Administration program, with Nickolas planning to specialize in marketing and Greg in financial services.

“We really wanted to continue playing soccer in college, mostly because we both enjoy it so much,” Nickolas said.

Being on the same team as your twin does present some minor challenges, Nickolas said.

“When we first were at try-outs during the summer practicing with the team, almost no one could get us right—they had trouble telling us apart all the time,” Nickolas said with a laugh. “It got to the point where we started wearing black and white shirts so people could tell us apart. That helped them out a lot.”

“During the season it got a lot better, after we made some friends and started hanging out with them outside of soccer,” Greg said.

While he’s coached siblings before, Chris McLachlan, head coach of the Cougars men’s soccer program, said this is the first time he’s had twins on his team.

“It’s a new experience,” McLachlan said, laughing. “I have had some trouble telling them apart when you’re just looking quickly during a practice. It’s easier during a game when I can look at the jerseys. They’re super good about it though, when myself and my assistant coaches mix them up.”

One of the biggest advantages to having the Eu brothers on the team is how familiar they are with each other on the field, McLachlan said.

“They know each other really well. They know where they’re going to be,” said McLachlan. “You notice that because they practice together on their own away from the team, they know each other’s positioning on the field and skills.”

For the twins, it’s just second nature.

“We’ve played on the same team our whole lives so it’s pretty easy. It just comes naturally,” Nickolas said.

“I do enjoy playing with my twin, I think it’s really cool,” Greg added. “We don’t really get to talk much on the field but it’s really easy to know what the other is going to do and where to go with the ball.”

The familiarity between the brothers becomes very apparent when the two scrimmage, Greg said.

“We really can’t get past each other because we know exactly what the other person is going to do,” Greg said with a laugh.

McLachlan said the twins are both hard workers with the desire to improve— a recipe for success.

“In terms of the season we just had, they’re probably the two players who improved the most from the start of the season to the end,” McLachlan said.

“Both of them are super coachable… if you give them some sort of constructive criticism they go out and immediately try and make that change to their game. As a coach, you want that in any of your athletes—a desire to improve and a willingness to put in the work to improve.”

For the twins, joining the team not only improved their soccer skills and allowed them to play the game they love, but also helped them settle into college and living in Brandon.

“I was kind of nervous coming to college. I think anyone would be, but after getting settled in it’s been good,” Greg said. "Because of the soccer team, we made a couple friends and that made us feel more welcome. It really helped.”

“The people, the coaches, the players—everyone feels like part of the team,” Nickolas said. “It’s been really great.”