HALIFAX, NS - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce
the 2009 women's soccer major award winners as selected by the
conference's head coaches following regular season play.
Tessa Roche, a fourth year striker with the UPEI Panthers, is the
2009 Atlantic University Sport Player of the Year. A native of
Charlottetown, PE, Tessa, who was selected the 2005 Atlantic
conference Rookie of the Year after leading the CIS in scoring with
15 goals, had another outstanding season, scoring a league-high 13
goals this year, the second highest total in the nation this
season.
Roche, who now has 38 career goals in four seasons at UPEI,
accounted for 65% of the teams goals this year to help the Panthers
finish with a 9-3-1 record and a second place finish in the
standings.
Only two Atlantic conference athletes have taken home the Chantal
Navert Memorial Award as CIS Player of the Year. UPEI's Amy
Connolly won it in 2005 and Cape Breton's Sarah Drake was the 2002
recipient.
StFX’s Meaghan Ramsden (Ottawa, ON), is the 2009 Atlantic
University Sport Rookie of the Year. The first year Human Kinetics
student, who was also named a second team AUS all-star earlier this
week, started and played in every game this season as a rookie.
“Meaghan is an excellent tackler, is extremely fast and very
hard to beat and can serve great, long balls with either
foot,” says StFX head coach Trevor Reddick. “She is a
true talent and is one of the best defenders I have ever had on my
team. She is extremely tough and is one of the most coachable
athletes that I have seen.”
The last Atlantic conference player to be named CIS Rookie of the
Year was Cape Breton's Michelle Desjardins in 2000.
For the second year in a row, the Atlantic University Sport Coach
of the Year is Dalhousie Tigers head coach Jack Hutchison. Jack, an
alumnus of Dalhousie University, was a member of the Tigers soccer
and basketball teams from 1976 to 1981. Jack returned to the Tigers
in 2000 as an assistant coach with the men's program, spent five
years assisting with the women's program and is now in his third
year as head coach.
This season, Hutchison guided the CIS No. 5 ranked Tigers to an
undefeated 10-0-3 record in conference play and a first place
finish with 33 points. In three seasons, Jack now has a 30-9-7
record as head coach, including AUS and CIS championship play.
UPEI's Mike Redmond (2004), CBU's Stephen Timmons (2000) and former
Acadia coach Laura Saunders (1990) are the only Atlantic coaches to
be named CIS Coach of the Year.
Leslie Pope, a fifth year senior with the Memorial Sea-Hawks is the
2009 recipient of the Student-Athlete Community Service Award.
Leslie, an academic all-Canadian and Dean’s List student with
a GPA of 3.84 is an exceptional student-athlete who gives back not
only to her team but to the community.
Pope is an active member of Memorial Athletic Council, raising both
student and community awareness about Memorial Athletics, to raise
money for athletic scholarships and to organize student-athlete
social events. She is a volunteer youth all-star soccer coach with
the St. John’s Senior Soccer Club and also helped initiate
and organize St. John’s Senior Soccer Club’s
‘Little Kicker’s Soccer Academy’, a kick-start
program that aims to foster a love of the game for children.
Since 2006, Leslie has been a Memorial University Student
Ambassador, representing the student body at a variety of
university events including formal award ceremonies and receptions,
convocations and high school recruitment and information
sessions.
For the past two years Leslie has been an active participant in the
Rotary Read-A-Long program, a program which works in conjunction
with Memorial Athletics to promote literacy among elementary school
children. MUN athletes, as well as prominent community members,
visit local elementary schools to reiterate the importance of
literacy and to read to students.
In 2009 Leslie joined SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) Memorial
as a translator and instructor for the Think Green Recycling
Program. Think Green provides grade six students with the necessary
skills to create and manage their own profitable recycling
business.
During her university career Leslie has also been a volunteer with
Special Olympics, coaching both swimming and soccer, and each year
at Christmas, Leslie volunteers with a local church, organizing and
delivering Christmas hampers for underprivileged families.
“Leslie has made an outstanding contribution to the MUN
Sea-Hawks program, both on and off the field,” says head
coach Walt Mavin. “She always demonstrates and leads the team
with passion, determination, and skill. She is a solid performer on
the field, in the classroom and in the community.”
The 2009 Subway Atlantic University Sport Women's Soccer
Championship will be hosted by Memorial University of Newfoundland,
November 6-8, 2009.
The championship schedule is as follows:
Friday, November 6
Quarter-final #1: StFX (4th) vs. Moncton (5th), 4:00pm
Quarter-final #2: Cape Breton (3rd) vs. Memorial (6th - Host),
6:15pm
Saturday, November 7
Semifinal #1: Dalhousie (1st) vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 1:00pm
Semifinal #2: UPEI (2nd) vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 3:15pm
Sunday, November 8
Championship Game: Semifinal Winners, 12:00pm
The Atlantic University Sport champion and runner-up will advance
to the 2009 CIS Women's Soccer Championship, November 12-15, 2009,
hosted by the University of Toronto.
Source:
John Keefe
Communications Manager
Atlantic University Sport
2009 AUS women's soccer awards announced
Posted: Nov 05, 2009