By SAM HOVAN
LongwoodLancers.com
Mikel Abando.
Ander Etxaniz. One an imposing, physical forward with the ability to deliver thunderbolt strikes on target from both feet. The other, a stout, cool, unflappable midfielder with slick feet and the hops to win aerial plays.
One aspires to join the professional soccer ranks after graduation. The other, to join the professional work force back home. The two even root for rival soccer teams (Athletic Bilbao for Abando, Real Sociedad for Etxaniz).
Yet despite being opposites in almost every way, Abando and Etxaniz seamlessly fit together on the field for Longwood men's soccer. The dynamic duo have lit up opponents and provided a multipronged attack for the Lancers, combining for 12 of Longwood's 18 goals. They lead a Longwood attack that has been in the top three in the Big South in goals per game throughout the season.
Off the field? The two are inseparable friends, bound together by the differences that helped them become as close as brothers.
"I think it's like a mix, what makes our friendship so special is what one doesn't have the other does," said Abando. "We complement each other really well. Even my mom and my family when they met him, the first thing that they told me was that we complement each other so, so good."
"He's the only one I can express myself perfectly too," said Etxaniz. "Sometimes we just really butt heads. But when we are playing, we understand each other really well so we can play together even though I play six [holding midfield] now, he plays nine [striker], sometimes we can connect. I think we help each other."
That friendship never happens though, without a trip across the world. Abando and Etxaniz both grew up less than an hour's drive from each other in the Basque country in northern Spain, but their hometowns were very different. Abando hails from Bilbao, a metropolitan area that boasts a population of more than one million people. Meanwhile, Etxaniz calls Deba, a small town in the Basque Country with a population of fewer than 6,000, home.
"I usually go to another city that's closer, like 20 minutes, so I had only been there [Bilbao] two or three times in my life," Etxaniz said.
Both players planned to use soccer as a pathway to a degree, and they wound up getting connected, independently, to Cayuga Community College in upstate New York. Originally, they were supposed to start together as freshman in 2016, but it fell through for Etxaniz. That was when they first started communicating, even though they hadn't met in person yet.
"I didn't know anyone," Abando recalls. "I was the only guy from Spain, so I remember that Ander was meant to come that year and finally he didn't come. So, he talked to me through Instagram to know how everything was there in the U.S., how the university in the United States was."
The first time they met in person? Preseason for Abando's sophomore year in 2017 after Etxaniz had worked out all of the paperwork. Once they met, their friendship blossomed immediately. Their shared homeland was a starting point, but they quickly became brothers. Even now, they can't point to one reason why that bond happened so quickly.
"We've talked about that more than once, but it was since the very beginning, since the first moment, it simply happened," Abando said. "That's why I think it's more special, because it just happened."
That first season together, Abando, who was three years older, wanted to help Etxaniz, who he saw as a younger brother, adjust to living in a town whose population totaled less than 600 people.
"I had already been there one year so I knew how it was," Abando said. "I tried to help him with everything because I knew how difficult it was to leave all your friends, family, and go there alone, so I tried to help him as much as I could with all of that stuff, with all the transition."
"It helped us grow up because I think it was one of the worst places we could be here in America being an international player, so it made us strong players," said Etxaniz. "It helped us to grow up and be stronger."
"The place being so hard mentally because there were moments mentally that were tough especially when you know you can play soccer at a higher level, those made us be way closer to each other," said Abando.
On the field, they dominated. Both were named NJCAA All-Americans in 2017 as Abando put together a 20-goal, nine assist sophomore season, and Etxaniz racked up 13 goals and 14 assists. Once the season ended, they started to consider what the next steps might be. Could that even be done together?
"I was telling him how good it would be to move together, but not as a reality, just as an idea like imagine how cool it would be," said Abando "I told him after the season I was going to help him as I was helping him since the very beginning."
"We're always together, and in a place like that, even if we don't know each other for 10 years, we're both like he's the best person who knows me. And I'm the best one who knows him because being here you're always together so you know a lot about each other."
The hurdles to play Division I soccer together would be tough to overcome. First, a coach needed to have a need at both positions and be able to make an offer to two players. Second, and perhaps even more important, Abando had to convince Etxaniz to go. While the two wanted to continue to play together, Etxaniz said he wanted his associate's degree.
"At first, I wanted to finish my associate degree there because my goal is more to come to get a degree than to play soccer," Etxaniz said. "But the soccer gave me the funds to play here."
Eventually, Abando convinced Etxaniz. Now, they had to find a place that needed both. Abando had already started talking with Longwood head coach
Jon Atkinson.
"Mikel reached out, looking for a capstone school to get to," Atkinson said. "Obviously, we do our due diligence on character and how he is as a player and a person, and felt he was very much a good guy in that regard. And then he mentioned that there's another guy that came with him, he is definitely someone he'd love to keep with the program."
It just so happened that the two played positions that Atkinson needed. Recruiting friends?
"You hope they're good friends and they get along," Atkinson said with a laugh. "They certainly have and have a special bond there. Just having that bond, it's like brothers. They act like it. They have the sibling rivalries like it. They compete well with it but have the utmost respect for one another."
While it meant new adjustments and a new place once again, the two friends were once again on the same adventure. This time, they would also be roommates.
"Coming from a community college, especially when you first come here, and you come see everything and it's a change," said Abando. "From my own perspective, I loved it from the very beginning."
"It was good, the academic part was better than I expected," said Etxaniz. "I was a little afraid because I knew the level of classes would be much harder than community college, but it went really well."
In 2018, Abando notched four goals and three assists while Etxaniz scored twice with one assist. The Lancers went 5-13-1 overall and made an end-of-season push to qualify for the Big South conference tournament with a 3-4-1 conference record. Ultimately, Longwood was bounced by Presbyterian in the first round of playoffs, and both agreed that being roommates helped with the ups and downs of the season.
"Sometimes when you are in a cycle that you can't get over, we go home and it's good to disconnect a little bit because also we have to enjoy the adventure and get everything out of this experience," Etxaniz said. "I manage to disconnect better from soccer than him because he's much more into it, so we complement each other in that way."
"It was pretty challenging, but in the other way, what helped me to go through those hard times was being here with Ander," said Abando. "That was the best thing I could have imagined was to be here with him."
With 2019 here, the two friends have one final semester together. Abando is scheduled to graduate in December and begin pursuing his professional soccer career. Etxaniz, a junior, is on track to finish his bachelor's degree in the spring of 2021. In the meantime, the duo are savoring every last bit of a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"It's been a hell of a ride," said Abando. "All of the experiences we've lived, all the tough moments we've lived, all the good ones too, everything, I can't really describe it, it's really special like I told you since the beginning."
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