Bobcat women claim futsal title

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This article was published 17/03/2025 (234 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For a program that does a lot of winning, Sunday’s Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference women’s futsal title was an extra special way to end the soccer season.

The Brandon University Bobcats beat the St. Boniface Les Rouges 6-2 Sunday afternoon at Assiniboine College after starting with a bizarre goal but a finish that left no doubt of the team’s MCAC supremacy.

Mackenzie Boyes tied the game and opened the scoring for BU after sending a high volley from deep within her own end that was intended for forward Jorja Hoad but ended up tying the game 1-1.

“I was looking for Jorja because she was in front of the net. I tried to send it thinking maybe she’d get a head on it, but the goalie jumped too soon and it went in,” said Boyes.

Boyes proved yet again proved her knack for scoring well-timed goals in just her second season as a Bobcat.

“I’ll never get used to scoring those big goals, it’s just the best feeling,” said Boyes.

Sunday’s final held extra importance for as the day marked the anniversary of her father Sgt. Jason Boyes death.

He was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2008 as a member of the Canadian Forces’ Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

“I’m hoping he was looking down and is proud,” Boyes said through tears following her team’s victory.

“Everything I do, I try to make him proud. I really hope he got to see today and what this meant to me and the team.”

Boyes’ opening goal set the tone after BU trailed early.

St. Boniface opened the scoring just three minutes into the contest but wouldn’t score again until the final minutes as goalkeeper Josie Black played a solid game and the team in front of her was positionally sound all day.

The two sides were tied 1-1 at the half, but rookie Victoria Gonzalez Castillo scored to take the lead less than a minute into the second half.

It was another typical day for the BU women from there, as they continued to keep the pressure on Les Rouges and played a possession-heavy game.

Hoad netted a pair to extend BU’s lead to 4-1 before USB’s Jade Lopez floated a free kick in to make it 4-2 with just over two minutes left in regulation.

Fifth-year captain Ashley Robinson was playing her final game as a Bobcat and made sure her team secured the victory by scoring the fifth and sixth goals with less than a minute left in regulation.

For the undeniable leader of the team that has won multiple championship banners, been named BU’s female athlete of the year, and earned multiple conference awards, to end on the high of winning both the indoor and outdoor banners in the same season for the first time in program history was an incredible achievement, but not without some nervous moments.

“Honestly I felt some pressure going into today know it was my last game ever. To win it, I still haven’t processed it. I’m honestly speechless,” said Robinson.

For a team that first hit the field together coming out of the COVID-cancelled season and has had four head coaches in four years, the core group of veterans took extra meaning in achieving yet another first together.

“It means everything. These are lifelong friends,” said Robinson.

“The bond and the things we’ve gone through in the last four years, the core group has grown so close and fought through a lot of adversity and it just goes to show the testament to the relationship we have.”

Tournament MVP Brogan Henry also credited the team’s depth and dedication, reflecting how the team played both in the outdoor season, through the indoor schedule, and into the weekend of finals.

“Our whole team was a team today, there were no individuals. It was the whole team coming together,” said Henry.

“Our bench players come on and they give us their all. You could throw any of them in there and they’re going to go 100 percent and they’re just there trying to make the team better. I really appreciate that, all of us want to give 100 percent of our effort every time we’re out there.”

Sunday marked the end of the season and the careers of program stalwarts like Robinson and Ireland Staples, who have seen an incredible transformation the last few seasons but aren’t ready for the ride to be over just yet.

“It still feels like I’m coming back and thinking about the pre-season next year,” said Robinson.

“It feels weird and I’m going to miss it so much. I’m going to look back at these four years as some of the best years of my life and introduced me to some of the best people in my life. I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.”

ASSINIBOINE MEN PUSH

USB INTO EXTRA TIME

The Assiniboine Cougars men came as close as possible to capturing the program’s first futsal banner on Sunday afternoon but came up short in extra time as the Les Rouges hung on for a 4-3 win.

The Cougars forced extra time on Danylo Denysevych’s two late tallies, the first from the penalty spot and the second on an unexpected cannon of a shot that tied it 3-3 with less than 10 minutes to go in the second half.

After trailing early and for most of the game, the host Cougars stayed calm and present in front of goalkeeper Gerardo Alas, who was named Assiniboine’s player of the game for yet another outstanding performance in which he made many highlight-reel saves.

For a team that was playing in its first final, the team showed no signs of nerves, staying the course but unable to come away with the victory on coach Chris McLachlan’s birthday.

USB’s Hamed Awal Njoya scored a hat trick as his team defended the title.

“He was amazing. He basically won the game for us, couldn’t ask for anything more,” Randy Gborie told media after the game.

“We have a completely different group than we did in the outdoor season and we knew we had to put all the pieces together. The way to be even better after winning is to do it again. We knew it’d be hard but we knew we’d get it done.”

BU MEN FALL IN

THRILLING SEMIFINAL

The Bobcat men dropped Saturday’s semi to USB in an utterly bizarre, frantic and thrilling clash with everything from fantastic to fluky goals and cards of both colours flying out of the officials’ pockets as Les Rouges hung on for a 7-6 win.

Brandon pushed hard in the final stretch after Les Rouges keeper Mohamed Fizazi picked up his second yellow card for delaying the restart of play with 23 seconds to go.

Fizazi’s departure meant he was not only unavailable for the dying seconds against the Bobcats but also Sunday’s final against the Cougars.

Bryson Haywood netted a hat trick for the Bobcats in Saturday’s loss, and was able to remain optimistic despite the gutting defeat.

“I’m just proud of these guys,” Haywood said. “All the guys coming in, they’re going to be ready when the time comes. We just got to keep the environment going for Bobcat soccer and just keep fighting. That’s how we like to play.”

» mpackwood@brandonsun.com, with files from Thomas Friesen