In the 25th minute of Wednesday's TELUS Canadian Championship final, the match hung in the balance.
CF Montréal had been awarded a penalty, and the club's star striker, Prince Owusu, stepped up and confidently sent the ball to Bertaud's left. But Bertaud was there, denying Owusu, and then bravely getting a hand to the rebound to clear it out of danger.
Those were two of eight saves the 28-year-old Bertaud made during an unbelievable performance at Stade Saputo. In the decisive penalty shootout, he then made a pair of stops, again on Owusu and on Hennadii Synchuk, opening the path for Manjrekar James' winning penalty in the fifth round.
For his heroics, Bertaud was named the George Gross Memorial Trophy Winner as the Most Valuable Player in the 2026 Canadian Championship.
He is the first Canadian Premier League player to win the award. During the course of the competition, he made 16 saves, kept two clean sheets, and allowed just four goals in six appearances.
Bertaud, who had just returned from international duty with the DR Congo, has been tremendous for Forge since signing for them this offseason following eight seasons with his hometown Montpellier in Ligue 1.
He made seven saves in his Forge debut, a 0-0 draw with Tigres in the Concacaf Champions Cup, and is tied for the most clean sheets kept in the CPL this season, with ten.