Blazers Men's Soccer Advance to MCAC Final on Home Turf
Mahamat Khamis celebrates after scoring his second goal of the match
Canadian Mennonite University (9-1-3) defeated Brandon (3-6-4) 2-0 on Saturday at Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex in the opening game of the 2026 MCAC Playoffs. The match was a rematch of the 2025 MCAC Championships Final, but this time, on the Blazers' home turf. CMU held Brandon to two shots and none on goal while putting six of its 11 shots on target.
CMU generated the first chances of the match, with Romaine Francis putting a shot on goal at 4:00 and taking corner kicks at 4:18 and 10:24. Brandon answered with a corner kick in the 17th minute and a Victor Andrade header wide at 17:06, while Siem Petros later headed wide for the Blazers at 26:22. CMU took a 1-0 lead at 38:28 when Mahamat Khamis scored off an assist from Tristen Holfeld. The Blazers added late pressure with two corner kicks after the goal, including one that led to an Abulkhair Dauda header wide, and carried the 1-0 lead into halftime.
The Blazers created the first chances of the second half through Holfeld, whose shots went high at 47:17 and wide left at 59:15. Khamis scored at 62:21 off an assist from Francis, extending the Blazers' lead to 2-0, and Francis added a shot on goal that Matheus Souza saved at 64:39. Brandon's Cash Melo shot wide at 74:12 before CMU generated more pressure, including a saved Khamis shot, a Taiwo Oshode corner and a Francis attempt saved at 83:17. The closing stretch included yellow cards to Brandon's Kapaya Chilufya and Elijah Carson-Lee, a yellow card to CMU's Aiden Cabral and a red card to Brandon's Carter Wiebe at 88:09 as the Blazers finished the 2-0 win.
Khamis scored twice, including the game-winning goal, and put all three of his shots on goal, and earned himself Player of the Game. 2026 MCAC All-Conference selection Nicholas Peterson played all 90 minutes in goal and recorded a shutout, while 2025 All-Conference selections Romaine Francis and Tristen Holfeld also factored in heavily in the match. Francis tallied an assist and placed all three of his shots on goal, while Holfeld added an assist and two shots.
The win places the Blazers into the MCAC Finals on Sunday, November 1 at noon, against the winner of Semifinal two, the Saint-Boniface Rouges, with the champion earning a bid to the CCAA National Championships in Edmonton Alberta later in November.
