Many young athletes try to model their game after a prominent professional athlete they look up to, but Oakland men’s soccer midfielder Dylan Borczak models his game after … well, Dylan Borczak.

“I feel like I’m myself,” Borczak said. “I mean I obviously like to do my fancy footwork and stuff because I watch a lot of soccer and that’s just how the game is starting to change, but I don’t feel like I model anyone in particular.”

Borczak, a senior majoring in integrated studies, spent the team’s 15-month [COVID-19] break training and “trying to get better.”

“I feel like that was a big turning point, because everyone took that break and didn’t do as much —  I took it as a way to get better,” Borczak said. “I’d go lift in the morning with [a guy I was training with], Aaron Byrd. He has an organization [called] Next Level Training [where we] would go lift and train.  I was doing that every day for three or four months — that really jumped my game to the next level.”

Borczak played for the Flint City Bucks of the USL League 2 during the 2019 offseason, where he and the team won a championship. He recalled the experience, calling it “great.”

“They brought me in, so it was a big jump from what I was playing at before,” Borczak said. “We would train every day with some top level players — I feel like five or six of those guys went pro the year after. It was good. I was just there to develop my game and ended up coming out of it with a national ring, so it went well.”

In his free time, Borczak enjoys playing video games with his friends. He also does some modeling. 

Men’s soccer Head Coach Eric Pogue said while Borczak had been important to the team’s success, [it’s important] not to forget about Noah Jensen, Dawson Schrum and Charlie Braithwaite, referring to the group as a “four-headed monster.”

“Dylan has been very good for us all year and [he is] one of the leading goal scorers and point getters in the nation,” Pogue said. “But when you mention Dylan, you have to mention [Jensen, Schrum, and Braithwaite] when it comes to our offense. Those guys [have been] collectively wreaking havoc on opposing defenses all year.”

Borczak said it’s been “crazy” watching him and his teammates light up the stat sheet this season.

“Just looking at the stats, with a 10-game season we have stats that people usually get with a regular 20-game season,” Borczak said. “It’s been us four that have been doing a lot of the work. I have seven goals, Charlie has five goals, Dawson has four and Noah also has four — but he’s leading in assists as well so it’s been crazy. I don’t think any team can really figure out a way to stop this right now, so it’s looking good.”