Assiniboine teams seek soccer playoff berths
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Kiyanna Arevalo has done almost all she can with the Assiniboine College Cougars.
She joined the program in 2024 after originally moving to the Wheat City from Saskatchewan to play for the Brandon University Bobcats. Over the past two years, she was named to the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference all-conference team twice and earned the league’s futsal player of the year award in 2025.
Now, with one more season at AC beginning Sunday at 3:15 p.m., against the St. Boniface Les Rouges at Cougars Field, Arevalo’s focus has shifted.
Kiyanna Arevalo is back for one more year after an all-conference season with the Assiniboine College Cougars in 2025. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
“I’m always excited. If you asked me five years ago, I’d probably tell you I’m excited to win,” she said. “But with AC it’s just a family, so getting to meet new friends and start a new team, it’s great.
“We really want to grow the team and obviously it’s hard with the age gaps, but we try to do bonding. In the end, our goal is at least to reach the final four, but we have to take it day by day.”
Arevalo knows the challenge of trying to guide a fairly new group to the playoffs, something Assiniboine hasn’t done in soccer but accomplished in futsal in 2025. They were as close as ever last season, finishing tied with Canadian Mennonite University at 2-10-0 but losing the tiebreaker.
With one more shot, Arevalo is looking forward to joining forces in the attacking third of the pitch with Providence Pilots transfer Breanne Fehr. The Neepawa product scored in two of three games against the Cougars last year.
Arevalo said another nice addition by way of transfer is Tyanne Martinez-Okemow, the twin sister of Cougars defender Tasmine. She was part of the Brandon University Bobcats team that won a third-straight MCAC crown last year.
“She’s taking Angela (Fetsch’s) spot, which is a big place to fill,” Arevalo said. “We lost some good players but also have some good girls coming in too.”
At the back, Jamaykah Miller anchors the defensive unit that will have its hands full.
The AC Cougars men's soccer team starts the MCAC season at home on Sunday. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
The former Neelin Spartan is welcoming the challenge as she gears up for her final season in the MCAC after spending three with the Providence volleyball team.
“Thinking about it, competitive level sports are done for me after this, so I’m trying to put everything into it and just embrace it. It’s really exciting and I’m really vibing with the team this year,” Miller said.
“I need to take more time to be with my teammates outside of the sport … Really taking advantage of that community on the team is the biggest thing I missed and didn’t take advantage of during all my years of volleyball.”
The Cougars have a home-heavy start to the season, after a quick trip to Providence on Sept. 19.
They host the Canadian Mennonite University Blazers the following day, then the Bobcats for a rare Wednesday night game on Sept. 23 before hosting the Pilots on Sept. 27.
AC starts October with four road games in a row, and caps the campaign at BU on Oct. 25.
Jamaykah Miller is entering her last season with the Assiniboine College Cougars women's soccer team as a captain. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
COUGARS MEN SEE
MORE TURNOVER
The AC men had even more changes this year, leaving just a couple of returning players for Segun Edward’s first year as head coach of the program.
“It’s being back to where it all began in Brandon for me,” said Edward, the former Cougars assistant, who spent one year as head coach at BU. “It’s a lot of expectation for me, a new group of guys … they’re new lads, but they’re really excited to play for the school.
“The key thing is structure. We’re going to be playing in a structure that will give us success. Over the years, we’ve had good teams, but one or two things have been missing.”
Edward said he’s looking to returning midfielders Kevin Cruz and Didier Bernal to lead the way. It’s a big step for Bernal, who didn’t see much playing time in his rookie year, when AC went 0-12-0.
“I’m really, really excited. It’s an honour. I didn’t do much last year and having the opportunity to do as much as I wanted to last year this year is awesome to have,” Bernal said.
Assiniboine College men's soccer coach Segun Edward instructs his players during Wednesday's practice. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
“That time when you don’t have much playing time, you really want to show as much as you can. When you didn’t have those chances and you now, you’ve got to step up.”
Bernal has been impressed with goalkeeper Adebowale Oshitayo and Adeniyi Adetunmobi up front in training so far. Still, he knows the real tests are coming soon, and they won’t be easy, starting with Les Rouges on Sunday at 1 p.m.
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com