The Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference (MCAC) men's soccer championship returned last year after a one year hiatus due to the pandemic. This season has been a hard fought and competitive year as all four teams compete to raise the trophy in 2022. Assiniboine Community College (ACC) is the host of this year's Final Four on October 29-30 with the winner representing MCAC at the Nationals.

ACC's Athletics Manager Lindsay McLaughlin commented about hosting the Final Four: "We are looking forward to play host for the soccer championship in Brandon again this year. The league this season overall was very strong with a lot of entertaining match ups. It is unfortunate our teams were just shy of making it to the tournament but we look forward to a weekend full of exciting competition."

#1 BU Bobcats vs. #4 CMU Blazers – 12 p.m. CT start at HLC Field on Saturday, October 29

Brandon University (BU) Bobcats (10-0-2 regular season record) seeks to defend their MCAC trophy won in 2021. The Bobcats are one of the hottest teams in the nation as they enter this Final Four just off a ten match winning streak and also 13th in the latest Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) national rankings. Their only two losses were on Sept. 10 (4-3 USB at BU) and on Oct. 23 (2-0 PUC at PUC) plus they have registered five shutouts while outscoring their opponents 32-12 so far this season.

Brandon were the last title holders prior to Covid-19 when they earned their first MCAC men's soccer championship in 2019.

In addition, BU has improved two points and one spot in conference standing from 2021 and this season had four All Conference selections along with the MCAC Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. Second year forward Camilo Rodriguez was Player of The Year with 15 goals (1st in MCAC scoring), along with five multiple goal games. BU's All Conference players included third year midfielder Zach Wood with two goals (T-17th in MCAC scoring) and consecutive year All Conference recognition, first year defender Victor Andrade scoring three times ( T-9th in MCAC scoring) and third year midfielder Sam Wetstein with a goal and strong defence presence.

Back-to-back Coach of the Year winner BU's Glen McNabb said, "The Brandon Bobcats are excited to be heading to the Final Four again this weekend. Having won the last two outdoor championships and been the representative at the CCAA Nationals last year, we look forward to the opportunity to defend that title. We would like to wish all the other teams good luck and look forward to some great soccer action this coming weekend."

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) Blazers (1-2-9 regular season record) battled all season with host ACC Cougars for the final playoff spot and captured the fourth seed with a crucial 2-1 win on the road on Oct. 16. CMU can look towards the Oct. 22 match versus BU as they played to a close 3-2 loss at Brandon and could be the blueprint to accomplish the upset playoff win this year.

The Blazers enter this weekend after grabbing at least a point in two of their last five contests. CMU is in the same position as 2021 when they pulled off the upset by defeating the top seed Providence squad in the semi-final match to advance to the championship final.

Top 2022 CMU scorer was second year forward Matheus Dos Anjos Aquino with six goals (6th in MCAC scoring) plus he has now been named All Conference for the last two seasons. Rookie defender Noah Schindel played in all 12 games with one goal and was part of defence that had one shutout and named as a 2022 All Conference.

Canadian Mennonite won the championship in 2018 and looks to halt the three-peat bid by the Bobcats.

#2 PUC Pilots vs. #3 USB Les Rouges – 12 p.m. CT start at Sportsplex Field on Saturday, October 29

Providence University College (PUC) Pilots (9-0-3 regular season record) were challenging Brandon throughout the season for the top spot and are on a roll as they enter the Final Four on a seven match winning streak. Their last loss was on Sept. 24 (1-0 BU at PUC) and won the season series against USB with two wins in three meetings with the last match-up ending up in a 3-1 road victory on Oct. 16.

The Pilots are looking to avenge a stunning loss in the semi-final last year and add to the four titles they have won in 2008-09 and from 2012-13.

During 2022, PUC's balanced attack had 13 different scorers Second year attacking midfielder Garreth Rayner led the team with 12 goals (3rd in MCAC scoring) and earning All Conference selection in 2022 and 2021 along with fourth year midfielder, team co-captain Giovanni Benitez adding seven goals (5th in MCAC scoring)  and also All Conference in 2022 and 2022. Fourth year midfielder, team co-captain Sean Kirkpatrick had a goal and part of defence that had three shutouts while 2022, 2021 All Conference recognition.

PUC's head coach Mo Cato stated, "We're excited for the opportunity to participate in the tournament. All the teams are very good, so I expect each match to be very competitive. However, I think our boys are playing some of the best soccer they've played all year so I'm looking forward to them having a great weekend."

Université de Saint-Boniface (USB) Les Rouges (7-1-4 regular season record) was in a three-way race for first place for most of the season. Les Rouges produced a two game win streak twice while also having a three match unbeaten streak in 2022. They improved by four points in the MCAC standings as compared to the 2021 regular season and finished this year with two impressive wins of 8-1 and 5-0 margin leading into the Final Four.

For USB, sophomore striker Franck Oumar N'Dia scored early and often as he led the team and finished second in league scoring with 14 goals. Third year winger Ibrahim Bezzahou added four goals (T-7th in MCAC scoring). Second year winger Randy Gborie, second year midfielder Michael Zarychta plus third striker Walid Elaaji (USB) and rookie winger Trimech Montassar all with three tallies each (T-9th in MCAC scoring). Les Rouges scored 38 overall goals (second most to Providence at 40) this season so far with 11 different players with at least one goal notched in 2022.

This should be a close match as both teams only had five points separate them in the conference standings. USB also won 2-1 at home on Sept. 28 over PUC this season.

Les Rouges would like to reverse the result from last year semis as the were also the third seed but lost to eventual champion Brandon. USB have won the conference title four times (2014-17) and seek a fifth to add to their trophy case.