Trio of X-Men Soccer athletes earn U SPORTS recognition

SEBASTIAN DZIKOWSKI NAMED U SPORTS MEN'S SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR

RICHMOND HILL, Ont. / SYDNEY, N.S. - Sebastian Dzikowski, a third-year striker from UBC, was named the U SPORTS player of the year in men's soccer, Wednesday night. Dzikowski, who hails from Calgary, is the fourth Thunderbird to capture the Joe Johnson Trophy, following Aaron Richer in 2002, Kevin Hearne in 1993 and Rob Reed in 1991.

Other national award winners announced during the All-Canadian Banquet held in Sydney, N.S., were UBC midfielder Brennen Fuerst, who won the Lou Bilek Award for rookie of the year; Luke Berryman of Dalhousie, who won the Student-Athlete Community Service Award; and Montréal head coach Pat Raimondo, who won Fox40 coach of the year honours.

The 2022 U SPORTS championship gets underway Thursday at the Ness Timmons Field at Cape Breton University and culminates Sunday with the national championship game at 3 p.m. Atlantic Time. All 11 games from the eight-team tournament will be webcast live on CBC Sports digital platforms in English, along with RadioCanada.ca/Sports and USPORTS.ca in French.

Official championship website: usports.ca/en/championships/soccer/m/info

JOE JOHNSON MEMORIAL TROPHY (player of the year): Sebastian Dzikowski, UBC

Setting a program record with 15 goals in the Canada West regular season, Dzikowski broke through in a big way this year, also setting a new single-season conference record with 43 shots on target while helping lead the T-Birds to a remarkable 13-1-2 record.

The Calgarian scored at least once in ten of UBC's 16 regular season games, finishing with 19 points. The third-year forward also found the back of the net three times in the T-Birds' two playoff victories over Calgary and Alberta, helping punch the T-Birds' ticket to the Canada West final and the U SPORTS Championship.

Other nominees:

AUS: Kyle Cordeiro (StFX)
RSEQ: Gregory David (UQAM)
OUA: Omar Marzouk (Ontario Tech)

LOU BILEK AWARD (rookie of the year): Brennen Fuerst, UBC

Earning a starting role in UBC's season opener on a very deep team, Fuerst proved his worth as an impact player right from the start of training camp. The midfielder out of the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy program earned his first Canada West assist in his first game and scored the game winner against the defending U SPORTS champion WolfPack the following weekend, one of two goals on the season.

Fuerst dressed in 15 of UBC's 16 regular season games, starting in 14 of those as well as the conference quarterfinal and semifinal, helping UBC to an eighth straight national championship appearance.

The Calgarian is the second straight Thunderbird to win the Lou Bilek Award after teammate Eric Lajeunesse earned the honour in 2022.

Other nominees:

AUS: Isaac VanWychen (StFX)
RSEQ: Maxime Bourgeois (Sherbrooke)
OUA: Michael Maslanka (Toronto)

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Luke Berryman, Dalhousie

A third-year striker, Luke Berryman is the U SPORTS student-athlete community service award recipient for 2023. An arts and social sciences student from Halifax, boasting a 3.67 GPA in the classroom, Berryman balances his sport and studies with a commitment to giving back to the community.

On the pitch, Berryman played in seven games for the Tigers this season, scoring twice.

His volunteer work in the community includes having started a project through his local YMCA to reduce barriers and make soccer more accessible to new Canadians and African Nova Scotians. Through this initiative he was able to acquire grants that allowed for over 100 children to register for and play club soccer this past summer. Berryman was honoured with the Canadian Premier League's Game Changers award for this initiative.

"Luke is a leader in our locker room, but more impressively he understands the importance of community," said Tigers head coach Alan Jazic. "He also is a mentor to a lot of kids in his community. He's been giving back as a coach with Halifax City Soccer Club for many years, both as a volunteer and now at the grassroots of development. Luke is very passionate about making soccer and sport more accessible to all children facing barriers to enroll."

Berryman is the sixth player from the Dalhousie Tigers to receive the men's soccer student-athlete community service award. Other Dalhousie winners include Gracious Kasheke (2019) Jonathan Doucett (2016), Sangmuk Choi (2015), Nathan Rogers (2013) and Ryan Haughn (2006).

Other nominees:

RSEQ: David Harrison (Sherbrooke)
OUA: Alexander Domingos (Nipissing)
CW: Chris Lee (UBC)

FOX40 COACH OF THE YEAR: Pat Raimondo, Montréal

In his 30^th season at the university level, Pat Raimondo has once again shown that he is one of the elite coaches in the country. The Carabins skipper has led his squad to a regular season record of 9-0-3. The Bleus scored 26 goals, and only gave up nine, as they finished the season with 30 points and atop the RSEQ table.

This is the ninth time that Raimondo has won the award at the conference level, and the third time nationally (2004 with Montréal, 2000 with McGill).

"Pat is a true legend of men's university soccer," said William Moylan, the director of the Carabins high-performance sport program. "Year after year, he puts on the field a team that is very competitive and aspires to greater heights. He also manages to create special relationships with his players, who respect him greatly. Pat is one of the major reasons for our success, and we are very happy to count him among us."

Raimondo will try to lead his squad to their third U SPORTS championship, following triumphs in 2018 and 2021.

Other nominees

AUS: Graham Kennedy (StFX)
OUA: Marcelo Plada (Carleton)
CW: Larry Stefanek (Victoria)

The all-Canadian and all-rookie teams were also announced Wednesday. A complete list follows.

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2023 U SPORTS MEN'S SOCCER AWARDS & ALL-CANADIANS

Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy (player of the year): Sebastien Dzikowski, UBC
Lou Bilek Award (rookie of the year): Brennen Fuerst, UBC
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Luke Berryman, Dalhousie
Fox40 Coach of the year: Pat Raimondo, Montréal