Ribeiro, Tecle and Ashlee honored as AUS men's soccer all-stars

Ribeiro, Tecle and Ashlee honored as AUS men's soccer all-stars

2013 AUS men's soccer major award winners and all-stars announced
Cape Breton's Greedy named AUS MVP

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2013 men's soccer all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's 10 head coaches following regular season play.

Fourth-year Cape Breton Capers striker Ian Greedy was named the AUS most valuable player at Thursday night's championship banquet.

Other AUS major award winners announced during the awards banquet hosted by Saint Mary's University in Halifax, N.S., were the University of New Brunswick's Diego Padhilha of Sau Paulo, Brazil, who was named rookie of the year; Dalhousie's Nathan Rogers of Calgary, Alta., who received the student-athlete community service award; and UNB head coach Miles Pinsent who took home the AUS coach of the year award for the third time in his career.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Ian Greedy, Cape Breton

Ian Greedy, a fourth-year striker with the AUS defending champion Cape Breton Capers, has been named the Atlantic University Sport men's soccer most valuable player.

Greedy, who led the league in scoring this season with nine goals, was also honoured Thursday as an AUS first team all-star.

This season, Greedy became Cape Breton's all-time leading scorer with 34 career goals. The Capers' former all-time record of 31 was held by Keishen Bean.

Greedy boasts several other career accolades including being named AUS rookie of the year in 2010. He was named an AUS first team all-star in 2011 and subsequently named to the CIS second team all-star squad that same year.

"We are very pleased to have Ian selected as MVP. He is our captain at CBU and an excellent ambassador for our program," said head coach Robbie Chiasson. "This is a credit to all the hard work he puts into his game. A great week for him after setting the school record for career goals this past weekend."

This is the fifth time a Cape Breton player has been honoured with the AUS MVP award since Cape Breton men's soccer began competing in the conference in 1998.

Greedy will now 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 and 2001) are the most recent Atlantic University Sport players to win the national award.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Diego Padhilha, University of New Brunswick

The University of New Brunswick's Diego Padhilha has been chosen by the coaches as the 2013 Atlantic University Sport rookie of the year.

A 5-foot-8 midfielder from Sau Paulo, Brazil, Padhilha started in 12 of the CIS No. 5-ranked Varsity Reds' 13 regular season games this year. He scored four goals and was credited with 12 shots on goal.

"It is nice to see Diego recognized for his impressive play in his first year in the competitive AUS league," said UNB head coach Miles Pinsent. "It was a tremendous leap of faith for Diego and his family to send him from Brazil to UNB so that he could pursue his goal of studying engineering while playing varsity soccer."

"His combination of composure, creativity and tenacity has enabled him to have a significant impact in each game," Pinsent added.

Padhilha, also named a first team AUS all-star Thursday, becomes just the third UNB player to be named the AUS rookie of the year. The V-Reds claimed back-to-back wins in this category when John Fish and Eric Cormier won in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

Fish was also the last AUS men's soccer player to earn CIS rookie of the year honours in 2004. Dalhousie's Simon Richardson is the only other Atlantic University Sport player to be named CIS rookie of the year. He earned the title in 2001.

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Nathan Rogers, Dalhousie

Nathan Rogers, a fifth-year defender from Calgary, Alta., is the 2013 AUS student-athlete community service award recipient.

The 6-foot-1 commerce student organizes an annual fundraising event in Calgary called CareFest in which about 35 participating teams of five take part in a mini soccer tournament followed by a social event.

Proceeds from CareFest are divided between a memorial scholarship established at Rogers' high school and Kid Sport Alberta. In the three years since its inception, over $55,000 has
been raised.

Rogers is actively involved in the Dalhousie community, serving as a teaching assistant for a fourth-year accounting class and completing administrative work for the Dal athletic department.

Last year, he served as a teaching assistant in three introductory accounting classes, marking, invigilating exams and tutoring students needing extra help.

During summers in Alberta, Rogers volunteers with his hometown soccer club, the Calgary Villains, serving as the youth technical director, running technical sessions for young people ages 10-16.

Rogers has been a member of the Dalhousie athletics varsity council for the past four years and has served as co-president for the past two years.

Academically, he has been on the Dean's List every semester of his Dalhousie career and has thus been named a CIS academic all-Canadian for the past four years.

Rogers was also named to the AUS second team all-star squad in 2012.

"Nathan is a great example of a true student-athlete, excelling in the classroom, on the field and in the community," said Dalhousie head coach Pat Nearing. "He is a deserving recipient of this prestigious award. Nathan is always the person trying to make a difference in his community, be it in Halifax or Calgary."

"His actions in organizing events in the community, at work, within the team and at the university have really made a difference to the people he comes in contact with," Nearing added.

Rogers becomes just the second Dalhousie recipient of the men's soccer student-athlete community service award, joining Ryan Haughn who won the award in 2006 and also took home that year's CIS honour.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Miles Pinsent, UNB

Head coach Miles Pinsent of the CIS No. 5-ranked UNB Varsity Reds has been selected by his peers as the 2013 AUS men's soccer coach of the year.

Earning the award for the second consecutive year, Pinsent's Varsity Reds squad wrapped up their second regular season in a row in first place in the AUS standings.

With a 2013 season record of 8-2-3, UNB finishes with 27 points, five points ahead of three teams locked in a tie for second place.

This is the third time Pinsent has been honoured with this award. Prior to last year's win, he was also named a co-recipient of the coach of the year award in 2001. A former technical coordinator with Soccer New Brunswick and the Fredericton District Soccer Association, he was also named the AUS women's soccer coach of the year in 1995.

Pinsent, who is in his 11th year as head coach of the men's program, now has a regular season record of 70-36-34.

"Miles continues to be extremely passionate and committed to our Varsity Reds men's soccer program, bringing in quality individuals from across Canada as well as several international student-athletes," said UNB director of athletics John Richard.

Pinsent is also the most recent AUS recipient of the CIS coach of the year award, earning the honour in 2012. Other CIS wins by AUS coaches in recent years include StFX's Graham
Kennedy in 2010 and Dalhousie's Pat Nearing in 2008.

FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS

The AUS first and second team all-stars were also announced Thursday. They are as follows:

First Team All-Stars:
Striker – Ian Greedy, Cape Breton (4th year, Lower Sackville, N.S.)
Striker – Bezick Evraire, Dalhousie (3rd year, Ottawa, Ont.)
Striker – Cole MacMillan, UPEI (3rd year, Stanhope, P.E.I.)
Midfielder – Diego Padhilha, UNB (1st year, Sau Paulo, Brazil)
Midfielder – Sandro Rajkovic, Cape Breton (3rd year, Hamilton, Ont.)
Midfielder – Randy Ribeiro, StFX (3rd year, Cambridge, Ont.)
Midfielder – Ahmed Abdul-Rahman, Moncton (2nd, Western Region, Ghana)
Defender – Pawel Gorski, Saint Mary's (3rd year, Halifax, N.S.)
Defender – Nathan Rogers, Dalhousie (5th year, Calgary, Alta.)
Defender – Ben Law, UNB (5th year, Ottawa, Ont.)
Keeper – Adam Miller, Saint Mary's (4th year, Swindon, England)

Second Team All-Stars:
Striker – Marcus Lees, UNB (1st year, Barrie, Ont.)
Striker – Yousuf Mohammad, UNB (5th year, Toronto, Ont.)
Midfielder – Maxime Daigle, Moncton (3rd year, Ottawa, Ont.)
Midfielder – Cochrane Noseworthy-Smith, Acadia (3rd year, Wolfville, N.S.)
Midfielder – Natneal Tecle, StFX (1st year, Calgary, Alta.)
Defender – Andrew Snyder, Acadia (2nd year, Bridgewater, N.S.)
Defender – Adrian Crace, Mount Allison (4th year, Halifax, N.S.)
Defender – Matthew Hamlyn, Memorial (4th year, St. John's N.L.)
Defender – Ryan Ashlee, StFX (3rd year, Victoria, B.C.)
Defender – Zak Riley, Cape Breton (1st year, Liverpool, England)
Keeper – Jason Ross, Dalhousie (3rd year, Bedford, N.S.)
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The 2013 Subway Atlantic University Sport men's soccer championship will be hosted by Saint Mary's University, November 1-3, 2013.

The championship schedule is as follows:

Friday, Nov. 1
Quarter-final #1: Dalhousie (3rd) vs. Acadia (6th), 12 p.m.
Quarter-final #2: StFX (4th) vs. Cape Breton (5th), 3 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 2
Semifinal #1: UNB (1st) vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 12 p.m.
Semifinal #2: Saint Mary's (2nd) vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 3 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 3
Championship Game: Semifinal Winners, 2 p.m.

*Note: All games of the championship will be available via webcast, live at www.AUStv.ca.

Final AUS men's soccer standings:
http://atlanticuniversitysport.com/sports/msoc/2013-14/standings

The Atlantic University Sport conference receives two berths at 2013 CIS men's soccer championship, November 7-10, 2013, hosted by the University of New Brunswick.

Host school UNB will qualify and the AUS champion will also qualify. If UNB is the AUS champion, the second CIS berth will be given to the AUS championship runner-up.

For more information on the 2013 CIS men's soccer championship, please visit the official website at: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/msoc/index 

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