Cougars confident after clinching futsal playoff spot

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This article was published 04/03/2025 (198 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gerardo Alas wondered how many saves it’d take to keep the season alive.

With every furious Brandon University Bobcat rush, it was “one more.”

The all-star Assiniboine College goalkeeper made every single one to preserve a 2-1 victory at Crocus Plains on Saturday, clinching a Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference men’s futsal playoff spot.

They were far from ordinary stops, some requiring a follow-up save within a second of the first strike. But diving and sprawling to the perfect spot every time, the immovable object defeated the unstoppable force that once was the Bobcat attack.

“It’s absolutely satisfying knowing I was pretty much the game changer,” Alas said after a 25-minute second half that felt like an eternity.

“Especially in the last two (minutes), the clock stops for every single play, it feels even longer. You can’t take your time, it doesn’t matter if you do because the clock is stopped. That was definitely an intense last five minutes.”

The Bobcats had more chances, though the Cougars remained disciplined and in control while defending. They kept their shape and took advantage of turnovers well. The first time, they set up an odd-man rush as Danylo Denysevych broke open and blasted the ball past Matheus Souza to open the scoring.

The Bobcats replied later in the first half on a quick passing play to Rodrigo Melgar to go into the break tied 1-1.

Alas liked what he saw from his team and felt it could continue into the second half.

“We’ve developed to be a more defensive team, we want to hold the ball as much as we can,” Alas said.

“We’ve 100 per cent grown together, we know how to work together and it’s showing on the pitch now.”

The Cougars continued limiting quality chances and making the most of the ones they got. When the Bobcats swarmed Denysevych on the attack, he hit an open Dima Golovchenko on the right side and he only needed one touch to pick a spot in the open net for the game-winner.

“To be honest, I just saw a white spot. I didn’t know if it was Dima or not,” Denysevych said with a grin. “I gotta pass because Souza is big and he covered the whole angle for me, I couldn’t shoot.

“I like to assist goals more than score I think because I feel more contribution to the goals when I assist and am happy to celebrate with the guys.”

Assiniboine held on, leaving Brandon to stick around and cheer the Canadian Mennonite University Blazers on to a 6-5 win over the Providence Pilots.

A Pilots win would have eliminated the Bobcats from the playoffs.

So BU has the No. 4 seed, taking on the first-place St. Boniface Les Rouges. AC faces CMU in the other semifinal on home court on March 15, with the final set for March 16.

AC’s first playoff appearance was in 2023 when it lost to Brandon in the first round.

“We’ve got a pretty good shot,” Alas said. “We’ve shown throughout the whole season that we’re not a team that should be underestimated. We’re currently third and that shows a lot, unlike the previous year we made it when we were (fourth).”

AC WOMEN ALREADY IN

The Cougar women lost a pair of games in Winnipeg on Saturday, 11-3 to BU and 11-0 to USB.

However, they already locked up their first-ever playoff berth two weeks ago with a 5-1 win over the Blazers, their third of the season.

AC faces the top-ranked Bobcats, who edged the Pilots 8-7 to stay in first place. USB and Providence meet in the other semifinal.

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