Aquino and Read receive soccer All-Canadian recognition

X-Men soccer midfielder Nick Aquino was named a U SPORTS first team All-Canadian and defender Josh Read earned second team All-Canadian status as announced at the U SPORTS All-Canadian gala.

Montreal's Essomé Penda headlines U SPORTS men's soccer major award winners

OTTAWA– Montreal forward Guy-Frank Essomé Penda was honoured with the Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy as U SPORTS men's soccer Player of the Year Wednesday, as the national award winners were celebrated at the annual All-Canadian Gala.

Past Award Winners

Trinity Western forward Christian Rossi captured the Lou Bilek award as Rookie of the Year, while McMaster defender Tchouambou Youmbi earned the Student-Athlete Community Service Award for his outstanding contribution both on and off the playing field. Victoria bench boss Bruce Wilson received the Fox 40 Coach of the Year award.

JOE JOHNSON MEMORIAL TROPHY (Player of the Year): Guy-Frank Essomé Penda, Montreal

Guy-Frank Essomé Penda is the U SPORTS men's soccer player of the year. He finished the 2021 season with seven goals and two assists. The fifth year Computer Engineering student from Almetyevsk, Russia netted two of his four of his tallies against the Laval Rouge et Or and the UQTR Patriotes, two teams that have been ranked in the U SPORTS Top 10 all season.

Essome Penda led the Carabins to their fifth consecutive RSEQ championship notching three assists in a 3-0 conference final over the Laval Rouge et Or.

Nominees
CW: Mohammed El Gandour, Mount Royal
OUA: Dieu Merci Yuma, York
RSEQ: Guy-Frank Essome Penda, Montreal (winner)
AUS: Charlie Waters, Cape Breton 

LOU BILEK AWARD (Rookie of the Year): Christian Rossi, Trinity Western

First-year Trinity Western University forward Christian Rossi is the U SPORTS Rookie of the Year after an impressive first season for the Spartans.
 
The Surrey, B.C. product started 10-of-12 matches for the Spartans this season, scoring a team-high five goals, four of which came on the road. Rossi notched a pair of tallies in a 2-2 draw against the eventual Canada West champions from UBC.

Rossi is the third straight Canada West student-athlete to win the Lou Bilek Award as U SPORTS rookie of the year.

Nominees
CW: Christian Rossi, Trinity Western (Winner)
OUA: Matteo de Brienne, Carleton
RSEQ: Anthony Phelps, Concordia
AUS: Jose Maria Ribeiro de Cunha, Cape Breton 

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Cheikh Tchouambou Youmbi

McMaster centre back Cheikh Tchouambou Youmbi is 2021 recipient of the U SPORTS Student-Athlete Community Service Award.

As a pivotal player on the McMaster back end, Youmbi helped the Mauraders hold their opponents to 1.29 goals per games on the season, while earning an OUA conference all-star nod for his on-field contributions.

The third-year health sciences major is more than an outstanding athlete. Youmbi helped jump start the school's first Black student-athlete council, works with the McMaster Athletes Care committee visiting elementary schools and children's hospital, while servicing as vice president of the Black Aspiring Physicians at McMaster.

Nominees
CW: Tobias Hyrich-Krueger, Saskatchewan
OUA:  Cheikh Tchouambou Youmbi, McMaster (Winner)
AUS: Dylan Crichton, Memorial 

FOX 40 COACH OF THE YEAR: Bruce Wilson, Victoria

For the third time in his 34-year career as head coach of the Victoria Vikes, Bruce Wilson is the U SPORTS Coach of the Year.

Wilson led Victoria to a 6-3-3 record and a first-place finish in the Canada West conference West Division before capturing its 13^th conference title in program history.

Under Wilson's guidance, the Vikes were also awarded the 2021 Canada West Fair Play award as the least penalized team in the conference.
 
Wilson previous won the Fox 40 U SPORTS men's soccer Coach of the Year Award in 1991 and 1996.

Nominees
CW: Bruce Wilson, Victoria (Winner)
OUA: Carmine Isacco, York
RSEQ: Pat Raimondo
AUS: Jake Stanford

2021 U SPORTS MEN'S SOCCER ALL-CANADIANS

First Team

Second Team

All-Rookie Team