Santos Prepared to Step up Again for Team Can-Am with Vieira Out with Shoulder Soreness

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – The formula is quite simple for Team Can-Am at the Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by U.S. Border Patrol.

Win and in.

Team Can-Am can control its destiny to reach Championship Weekend in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on July 10-12 with two more victories this weekend at the Pendleton Whisky Let ‘Er Buck Saloon at South Point Arena.

However, Can-Am (2-2) will be without its Team Captain Fabiano Vieira after the 37-year-old injured his riding shoulder during his two buckoffs in the team’s 173.25-0 victory over Team Union Home Mortgage (1-3) on Saturday night.

Team Can-Am is slated to face No. 2 Team Las Vegas (3-1) at 9:45 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network and RidePass. The winner of that game will face division-leading Team Cooper Tires Sunday.

Vieira said he is going to pass the torch for at least Saturday night to Rafael dos Santos after the rookie stepped in last minute for an injured Ezekiel Mitchell and rode Jungle Can Do for 86.5 points.

Mitchell is expected to be OK for the game against Las Vegas on Saturday night. The 23-year-old was stepped on by Haboob following his 7.74-second buckoff.

Losing Vieira could be a big blow for Can-Am, which is sitting in third place in Division A behind Cooper Tires (4-0) and Las Vegas, but Vieira said he is confident in his younger teammates. If necessary, Vieira said he could ride Sunday.

 
“I am a little bit sore,” Vieira told PBR.com late Friday night. “I will let Rafael ride tomorrow. I think I could ride Sunday. I don’t know. Maybe I will ride again Sunday. It is my riding arm. I hit the ground hard tonight.”

Can-Am is third in the Division A standings, but is second in overall aggregate score (604.50 points) behind Cooper Tires. Can-Am is 8-for-24 in four games.

Team Can-Am is only one game up on No. 4 Team Wrangler (1-3, 516.75 points), No. 5 Union Home Mortgage (1-3, 510.75), and No. 6 Team YETI (1-3, 427.25 points), but it does have the highest aggregate score, which is the first tiebreaker in the standings.

The Monster Energy Team Challenge features 12 teams, and two Divisions (A & B). The Top 3 teams in each division, based upon win-loss record, will qualify for Championship Weekend and a single-elimination tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on July 10-12 in front of fans.

Rookie of the Year contender Mauricio Moreira put Can-Am into the lead Friday night vs. Union Home Mortgage with his 86.75-point ride on Hot Spots. Moreira, who is roommates with Santos in Decatur, Texas, is Can-Am’s top rider and is 3-for-8 at the METC.

“This is why I picked the guys,” Vieira said. “I believe in them and my team.”

When asked what he knew about the two young Brazilians, General Manager Chase Outlaw kept it simple.

“They can ride,” Outlaw said via text message.

Meanwhile, Team Union Home Mortgage can only wonder “what if” after letting a series of opportunities pass it by for the third consecutive game.

Union Home Mortgage is 2-for-18 since its thrilling Division A-opening game win over Team Wrangler. Team Captain Silvano Alves had two costly buckoffs Friday night just past the 7-second mark.

Santos did not appear in any of Can-Am’s first three games last weekend, but he knew he had to be ready just in case he was called into action this week.

 
“I was already ready to go,” Santos said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “When they told me I was going to get on, I put my chaps on and I got my spurs and everything. I stayed focus. I was excited and ready for this opportunity to help my team.”

Santos has drawn Big City and Ain’t Done Yet for the Saturday night showdown with Team Las Vegas. Vegas was previously undefeated before going 0-for-6 in a blowout loss to Team Cooper Tires Friday night.

“I am focused to ride bull by bull from now on,” Santos said. “I am going to try to ride like everybody else and win first place.”

Santos’s father, Roberto, was a bull rider in Brazil, and Rafael decided to pursue his dream of riding in the United States earlier this year.

Rafael, 24, finished runner-up for the 2019 PBR Brazil title after a third-place finish at the 2019 PBR Brazil Finals where he went 2-for-3 with two 90-point rides.

“After I finished second at the PBR Brazil, I thought now was a good opportunity to come over, and here I am,” Santos said.

Friday night was only Santos’s ninth bull, and fourth qualified ride, at any level of PBR competition in the United States.

Santos, though, is gaining confidence with each bull he gets on, and Team Can-Am is going to need him to step up once again on Saturday night if it hopes to continue on its march to the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.

“The bulls here are different,” Santos said. “One thing I thought maybe before I got over here I would not be able to adapt. Thank God I have been doing really good, and I am going to try to keep going like I am going right now. Ride bull by bull, and see if we can make the Finals.

“We just have to focus and ride bull by bull and win another one tomorrow.”

Professional Bull Riders – Team Challenge – Game 10
Las Vegas, NV, 2020
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Mauricio Gula Moreira, 86.75-0-86.75
2. Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 0-86.5-86.50
Fabiano Vieira, 0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0.00
Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0.00
Silvano Alves, 0-0-0.00
Marcus Mast, 0-0-0.00
Luciano De Castro, 0-0-0.00

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

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