CIS women’s soccer: Queen’s MacLellan named player of the year

TORONTO (CIS) – Fifth-year Queen’s striker Renee MacLellan was named Canadian Interuniversity Sport player of the year in women’s soccer, Wednesday night.

MacLellan of Kingston, Ont., became the third Gael to receive the Chantal Navert memorial award since the inception of the trophy in 1995. Former Queen’s teammate Eilish McConville was honoured in 2006, while Raelenne Dunne was the 1999 recipient.

Other CIS major award winners announced during the All-Canadian Banquet were Trinity Western’s Alicia Tesan of Vancouver, who was named rookie of the year, Alberta’s Veronique Mayer of Edmonton, who received the Student-Athlete Community Service award, and McGill’s Marc Mounicot, who earned coach-of-the-year honours, an award presented by Coaches of Canada.

The 2009 CIS championship gets under way Thursday at the University of Toronto and culminates Sunday at 5 p.m. with the gold-medal final. SSN Canada will have live webcasts of all 11 match-ups, including the consolation round (www.ssncanada.ca or www.cis-sic.ca).

CHANTAL NAVERT MEMORIAL AWARD (player of the year): Renee MacLellan, Queen’s

MacLellan was the go-to striker all season as the only fifth-year senior on a very young Queen’s squad, and the geography student delivered. She finished second in OUA scoring with a career-high 12 goals in 16 conference outings, including six game winners. Her outstanding play helped the Gaels reach the No. 2 spot in the national rankings and take first place overall in Ontario with a sparkling 13-1-2 record, which was highlighted by a 14-game unbeaten streak from Sept. 13 to Oct. 24.

A two-time OUA all-star and a first-time all-Canadian, MacLellan helped Queen’s reach the OUA final and hopes to lead the Gaels to a first CIS title this week in Toronto, 21 years after the team’s lone Gladys Bean memorial trophy victory back in 1988.

“Renee has been our leader both on and off the pitch,” said Queen’s head coach Dave McDowell, who describes his star player as a very fast, very skilled one-on-one attacking forward. “She is a student of the game whose vision on the field is matched by her pace.”

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Alicia Tesan, Trinity Western

Tesan became the second straight Spartan to be named CIS rookie of the year following current teammate Nikki Wright’s selection in 2008.

The 5-foot-4 forward had an immediate impact with the reigning national champions scoring seven goals in 12 conference outings to finish second on the team behind Wright (9) and in a tie for fifth place in the Canada West scoring race. She also tied Wright for the team lead with 10 points, which was good for eighth place in the conference. The human kinetics major, who earned a spot on the second Canada West all-star team, was a major factor all season as TWU led eight of 10 national rankings en route to claiming the program’s third conference banner.

A graduate of Notre Dame High School in Vancouver, Tesan helped Team B.C. capture gold at the 2009 Canada Summer Games.

“Alicia has been one of the most consistent and dangerous threats to opposing teams all season,” said Trinity Western head coach Graham Roxburgh. “She has scored timely goals against the strongest competition in the conference and has been a major force in helping TWU to the Canada West title.”

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Veronique Mayer, Alberta

Mayer is the second Panda in as many years to receive Student-Athlete Community Service award, following in the footsteps of teammate Jackie Smith.

In her fifth and final university season, the defender and team captain tallied two goals and 10 points in 14 league games and was named a Canada West first-team all-star for the second straight year. The education student, who started her U of A career as a goalkeeper, captained the Canadian side at the 2009 Summer Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia.

Very involved in the community, Mayer has coached high school soccer and basketball, run volunteer goalkeeper soccer camps and day camps during Education week at Bon Accord, Alta., high school. She is also involved in the annual U of A United Way ‘Sub Day’, and has been the Pandas soccer representative on the student union board. She sits on the Pandas alumni board, coaches Pandas summer camps and classics (over 35) women’s camps, and participates in the Bear Hugs program at the Stollery Children’s Hospital.

“Veronique has been one of the most remarkable student-athletes to have come through the Pandas soccer program in any of my years with the program as a player, and member of the coaching staff,” said Alberta head coach Liz Jepsen. “Her perseverance, dedication, camaraderie, sportsmanship, respect and sense of humour have touched many in the community. She has been a great leader for the Pandas soccer program, and contributor and mentor to the community at large.”

COACH OF THE YEAR, presented by Coaches of Canada: Marc Mounicot, McGill

Mounicot, a 46-year-old native of St. Jean de Luz, France, and resident of Outremont, Que., became the second McGill mentor to win the coach-of-the-year award in CIS women’s soccer and the first since Tony Iachetta in 1988.

In his 12th season behind the bench, Mounicot guided a young Martlets team to a surprising 10-3-1 second-place record in the eight-team Quebec conference, a semifinal win over Sherbrooke and a berth in the league championship game, a 2-1 loss to the nationally No.1-ranked Montreal Carabins.

Since taking over the helm of the Martlets after captaining McGill to the 1997 CIS men’s soccer championship, Mounicot has posted a 182-57-41 record overall, earning QSSF coach-of-the-year honours four times. He has led the Martlets to eight Quebec titles and four medals in eight appearances at the CIS Nationals. Mounicot has also served on the Canadian women’s coaching staff three times at various World University Games, including a summer as head bench boss at the 2005 Universiade in Turkey and stints as an assistant coach at the 2007 Games in Bangkok and the 2001 Games in Beijing.

“Marc has done an exceptional job with our women’s soccer program over the years,” said Drew Love, executive director of athletics and recreation at McGill. “This season, he took a very young squad, which included 19 players in either their freshmen or sophomore year, and molded them into a contender. It’s safe to say that very few people would have predicted the Martlets to reach the league final this year and come within a goal of qualifying for Nationals.”

ALL-CANADIAN TEAMS:

The all-Canadian teams were also announced on Wednesday, with Montreal and UBC each placing two players on the top squad.

The 10 players who joined MacLellan on the first CIS constellation are UBC goalkeeper Jaclyn Dunnett of Burnaby, B.C., Montreal’s Émilie Mercier of Longueuil, Que., and UBC’s Chelsea Stang of Surrey, B.C., on defence, Montreal’s Véronique Maranda of Montreal, Manitoba’s Desiree Scott of Winnipeg, and Memorial’s Laura Breen of St. John’s at midfield, as well as a foursome of strikers comprised of Victoria’s Kendra Flock of Calgary, UPEI’s Tessa Roche of Charlottetown, York’s Ami Otaki of Kanagawa, Japan, and Sherbrooke’s Josée Bélanger of Coaticook, Que.

A number of first teamers are usual suspects. Mercier became a five-time all-Canadian, including four first-team nods. Both Bélanger and Breen became four-time CIS all-stars, including three nominations to the first squad for Bélanger and two for Breen. Dunnett and Stang are three-time all-Canadians, while Maranda was named to the first team for the second straight year.

The second all-CIS squad is comprised of Laval goalkeeper Noémi Duguay of Quebec City, Ottawa’s Nikki Moreau of Almonte, Ont., Victoria’s Holly Fiddick of Victoria and McGill’s Katherine Green of Richmond Hill, Ont., on defence, Sherbrooke’s Andréanne Gagné of St-Hyacinthe, Que., Cape Breton’s Hannah Abenheimer of Sydney, N.S., Victoria’s Jackie Snell of Victoria, Wilfrid Laurier’s Heather Malizia of Burlington, Ont., and Cape Breton’s Kiley Snow of Sydney at midfield, as well as Brock’s Cassandre Van Bakel of Aurora, Ont., and Memorial’s Malorie Harris of Mount Pearl, Nfld., as the strikers.

Fiddick, Gagné, Abenheimer, Snow and Harris are all two-time all-Canadians.

2009 CIS WOMEN’S SOCCER AWARDS & ALL-CANADIANS

Chantal Navert Memorial award (player of the year):
Renee MacLellan, Queen’s

Rookie of the year:
Alicia Tesan, Trinity Western

Student-Athlete Community Service award:
Veronique Mayer, Alberta

Coach of the year, presented by Coaches of Canada:
Marc Mounicot, McGill

First Team

Position - Athlete - University - Year - Hometown - Faculty

Goalkeeper Jaclyn Dunnett UBC 5 Burnaby, B.C. Arts
Defence Émilie Mercier Montreal 5 Longueuil, Que. Administration
Defence Chelsea Stang UBC 5 Surrey, B.C. Arts
Midfield Véronique Maranda Montreal 4 Montreal, Que. Administration
Midfield Desiree Scott Manitoba 5 Winnipeg, Man. Arts
Midfield Laura Breen Memorial 5 St. John’s, Nfld. Arts
Striker Renee MacLellan Queen’s 5 Kingston, Ont. Geography
Striker Kendra Flock Victoria 5 Calgary, Alta. Education
Striker Tessa Roche UPEI 4 Charlottetown, P.E.I. BA
Striker Ami Otaki York 2 Kanagawa, Japan Education
Striker Josée Bélanger Sherbrooke 4 Coaticook, Que. Kinesiology

Second Team

Goalkeeper Noémi Duguay Laval 2 Quebec City, Que. Business Administration
Defence Nikki Moreau Ottawa 2 Almonte, Ont. Biology
Defence Holly Fiddick Victoria 4 Victoria, B.C. Human & Social Development
Defence Katherine Green McGill 2 Richmond Hill, Ont. Arts (Political Science)
Midfield Andréanne Gagné Sherbrooke 3 St-Hyacinthe, Que. Political Science
Midfield Hannah Abenheimer Cape Breton 5 Sydney, N.S. Science
Midfield Jackie Snell Victoria 5 Victoria, B.C. Education
Midfield Heather Malizia Laurier 3 Burlington, Ont. Psychology
Midfield Kiley Snow Cape Breton 5 Sydney, N.S. Science
Striker Cassandre Van Bakel Brock 3 Aurora, Ont. Fine Arts
Striker Malorie Harris Memorial 5 Mount Pearl, Nfld. Police Studies

-CIS-