2009 AUS men's soccer awards announced

HALIFAX, NS - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2009 men's soccer major award winners as selected by the conference's head coaches following regular season play.

The 2009 Atlantic University Sport Player of the Year is Andrew Rigby of the CIS No. 3 ranked Cape Breton Capers. Rigby, who played previously with the Ottawa Fury of the USL Premier Development League, is in his first year of university eligibility and anchored a Cape Breton squad that scored a league-high 36 goals, an improvement of 17 from the previous season, while allowing just 12, down from 22 in 2008. Andrew netted one goal this season while assisting on 12 other CBU goals.

“Andrew has outstanding dribbling ability and consistently delivers passes which lead to goals,” says Capers head coach Robbie Chaisson. “He is the best player I have seen in the AUS conference since taking this position.”

The last Cape Breton player to be named the conference Player of the Year was Ricardo Marquez in 2006. Andrew will represent the Atlantic conference as the league's nominee for the Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy as the CIS Player of the Year. UPEI's Ryan Anstey (2005) and SMU's Mesut Mert (2003) are the most recent Atlantic University Sport players to win the national award.

Max Maund of the StFX X-Men is the 2009 Atlantic University Sport Rookie of the Year. Max, 6'2" defender from Courtenay, BC, was a key member of a StFX defence in his first year that allowed just 16 goals against this season.

"Max came in as a rookie and has arguably been our best player this year and one of the top rookies in the league this season," says StFX head coach Graham Kennedy. "He is an exceptional talent and I believe that he could start in the back line for any team in the league."

He is the second StFX player to be named Rookie of the year in the past three seasons, joining teammate Miroslav Novak (2007 AUS Rookie of the Year) as recent winners from StFX. UNB's John Fish in 2004 and Richardson in 2001 are the only Atlantic University Sport players to be named CIS Rookie of the Year.

UPEI head coach Lewis Page has been selected by his peers as the 2009 Atlantic University Sport Coach of the Year. Page, named the AUS Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2002, as well as the 2002 CIS Coach of the Year, is in his tenth season as head coach of the Panthers program.

This season, he led UPEI to an 8-5-0 record and a fourth place finish in the regular season standings. Lewis now has a career record of 73-45-22 including AUS and CIS championships heading into this weekend's AUS championship at Dalhousie.

Dalhousie’s Pat Nearing was named CIS Coach of the Year last season.

Guiseppe Scichilone (Gondola Point, NB) of the Saint Mary’s Huskies is the Student-Athlete Community Service Award recipient for 2009. A 6’2” senior fullback for the Huskies, Guiseppe is a captain with the team and an Academic all-Canadian with a GPA of 3.29.

Of the field, Scichilone is a member of the Saint Mary’s Athlete’s Council, participates in the Excel Child Care Programming at Inglis St. Elementary in Halifax, and has volunteered with the 65 Roses for Cystic Fibrosis Run in each of the past three years. Guiseppe also coordinates intramural soccer at Saint Mary’s and hosts open mic sessions at the Gorsebrook lounge for students on campus in his spare time.

According to head coach Stewart Galloway, “Guiseppe everything a coach could ask for in a student-athlete. He is hard working, dedicated, honest and always out for the benefit of the overall group with less concern for himself. He is academically outstanding and is very involved in the community and the school.“

The 2009 Subway Atlantic University Sport Men's Soccer Championship will be hosted by Dalhousie University, November 6-8, 2009. Weather permitting, all games will be available via webcast at www.ssncanada.ca/games/ .

The championship schedule is as follows:

Friday, November 6
Quarter-final #1: UNB (3rd) vs. Moncton (6th), 12:00pm
Quarter-final #2: UPEI (4th) vs. StFX (5th), 3:00pm

Saturday, November 7
Semifinal #1: Cape Breton (1st) vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 12:00pm
Semifinal #2: Dalhousie (2nd) vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 3:00pm

Sunday, November 8
Championship Game: Semifinal Winners, 1:00pm

The Atlantic University Sport champion and runner-up will advance to the 2009 CIS Men’s Soccer Championship, November 12-15, 2009, hosted by Trinity Western University.

Source:

John Keefe
Communications Manager
Atlantic University Sport