SASKATOON – A scintillating strike from Marcello Gonzalez in the second half was all the offence the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's soccer team needed to take down the Mount Royal Cougars 1-0 on October 6.
 
"We had a good foot on the ball for large parts of the game but we just didn't get a clear opportunity on goal which is worrying as the game goes on," said Huskies head coach Bryce Chapman. "We recognized our fifth years today and if you are going to win games in this league you need your fifth years to step up and for Marcello to score a fantastic goal like he did today is pretty satisfying."
 
Providing the winner in the final regular season home game of Huskies' career, Gonzalez along with Jacob Powell and Gabriel Buatois were honoured prior to the contest for their contributions to Huskie Athletics throughout their time with the program.
 
"Marcello has scored big goals in big moments, that's massive for him because he's worked his way back from injury. You can't say enough about Powell, he's a leader that's really put a stamp on our program over the last five years – on and off the field – he does the little things that go unnoticed and is a warrior for us. Gabby is an attacking midfielder that due to some circumstances, we've had to move him to right back and he's bought into the bigger picture of playing for the team and he's done fantastic in that role," said Chapman.
 
"Those are fifth years that are hard to replace and good examples of what a Huskie athlete is. They've definitely put their stamp on our program."
 
The win was a pivotal one in the standings, Saskatchewan has now won their last four games in a row to move to 5-3-4 on the year, currently slotting them in second place in the Prairie Division.
 
"We are at four in a row right now and you can see this group start to mature and understand the discipline and grind you need pull out the result in tight games," said Chapman.
 
For Mount Royal meanwhile, the loss was the first time they've dropped points against a divisional opponent in 2019, leaving them with a record of 9-3 and a firm grip on first place in the division.
 
A back and forth first half saw little in the way of scoring opportunities, with the best chance coming from the Cougars. A nifty back-heel pass from Justin Anderson-Louch found Mohamed El Gandour but his strike was stopped by Marcus Baxter in the Huskies' net.
 
Saskatchewan came out of the gates on fire in the second half, compiling three quality scoring chances in the first 15 minutes. The best of those came when Kuhle Bekwayo stepped up to the spot for a penalty-kick, Fabian Bunk was equal to the task however, making an outstanding save to keep the game even.
 
The breakthrough for the Huskies came in the 69th minute.
 
Gabriel Michael whipped in a pass to Gonzalez, and the product of Regina volleyed the ball out of mid-air and straight into the top corner of the net for the goal.
 
"It's unbelievable, I've been waiting to get a goal all season and I'm happy it came this game because I had a lot of family down to watch today," said Gonzalez. "I took a good first touch, it went up for a good volley on the weak foot and I just hit it, it came off my foot nicely."
 
The Cougars ramped up the pressure after conceding and Dane Domic had a mini-break on net but Baxter came out strongly to snuff out the opportunity and give Saskatchewan the win.
 
Mount Royal will play just one game next week, heading to Alberta to take on the Golden Bears while Saskatchewan will have the week off before playing both the Golden Bears and MacEwan Griffins in Edmonton.
 
All of that action can be watched live on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.