2009 AUS Women's Soccer Awards Announced
Courtesy Atlantic University Sport

November 5, 2009 (HALIFAX, NS) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2009 women's soccer major award winners as selected by the conference's head coaches following regular season play.

Tessa Roche, a fourth year striker with the UPEI Panthers, is the 2009 Atlantic University Sport Player of the Year. A native of Charlottetown, PE, Tessa, who was selected the 2005 Atlantic conference Rookie of the Year after leading the CIS in scoring with 15 goals, had another outstanding season, scoring a league-high 13 goals this year, the second highest total in the nation this season.

Roche, who now has 38 career goals in four seasons at UPEI, accounted for 65% of the teams goals this year to help the Panthers finish with a 9-3-1 record and a second place finish in the standings.

Only two Atlantic conference athletes have taken home the Chantal Navert Memorial Award as CIS Player of the Year. UPEI's Amy Connolly won it in 2005 and Cape Breton's Sarah Drake was the 2002 recipient.

StFX’s Meaghan Ramsden (Ottawa, ON), is the 2009 Atlantic University Sport Rookie of the Year. The first year Human Kinetics student, who was also named a second team AUS all-star earlier this week, started and played in every game this season as a rookie.

“Meaghan is an excellent tackler, is extremely fast and very hard to beat and can serve great, long balls with either foot,” says StFX head coach Trevor Reddick. “She is a true talent and is one of the best defenders I have ever had on my team. She is extremely tough and is one of the most coachable athletes that I have seen.”

The last Atlantic conference player to be named CIS Rookie of the Year was Cape Breton's Michelle Desjardins in 2000.

For the second year in a row, the Atlantic University Sport Coach of the Year is Dalhousie Tigers head coach Jack Hutchison. Jack, an alumnus of Dalhousie University, was a member of the Tigers soccer and basketball teams from 1976 to 1981. Jack returned to the Tigers in 2000 as an assistant coach with the men's program, spent five years assisting with the women's program and is now in his third year as head coach.

This season, Hutchison guided the CIS No. 5 ranked Tigers to an undefeated 10-0-3 record in conference play and a first place finish with 33 points. In three seasons, Jack now has a 30-9-7 record as head coach, including AUS and CIS championship play.

UPEI's Mike Redmond (2004), CBU's Stephen Timmons (2000) and former Acadia coach Laura Saunders (1990) are the only Atlantic coaches to be named CIS Coach of the Year.

Leslie Pope, a fifth year senior with the Memorial Sea-Hawks is the 2009 recipient of the Student-Athlete Community Service Award. Leslie, an academic all-Canadian and Dean’s List student with a GPA of 3.84 is an exceptional student-athlete who gives back not only to her team but to the community.

Pope is an active member of Memorial Athletic Council, raising both student and community awareness about Memorial Athletics, to raise money for athletic scholarships and to organize student-athlete social events. She is a volunteer youth all-star soccer coach with the St. John’s Senior Soccer Club and also helped initiate and organize St. John’s Senior Soccer Club’s ‘Little Kicker’s Soccer Academy’, a kick-start program that aims to foster a love of the game for children.

Since 2006, Leslie has been a Memorial University Student Ambassador, representing the student body at a variety of university events including formal award ceremonies and receptions, convocations and high school recruitment and information sessions.

For the past two years Leslie has been an active participant in the Rotary Read-A-Long program, a program which works in conjunction with Memorial Athletics to promote literacy among elementary school children. MUN athletes, as well as prominent community members, visit local elementary schools to reiterate the importance of literacy and to read to students.

In 2009 Leslie joined SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) Memorial as a translator and instructor for the Think Green Recycling Program. Think Green provides grade six students with the necessary skills to create and manage their own profitable recycling business.

During her university career Leslie has also been a volunteer with Special Olympics, coaching both swimming and soccer, and each year at Christmas, Leslie volunteers with a local church, organizing and delivering Christmas hampers for underprivileged families.

“Leslie has made an outstanding contribution to the MUN Sea-Hawks program, both on and off the field,” says head coach Walt Mavin. “She always demonstrates and leads the team with passion, determination, and skill. She is a solid performer on the field, in the classroom and in the community.”

The 2009 Subway Atlantic University Sport Women's Soccer Championship will be hosted by Memorial University of Newfoundland, November 6-8, 2009.

The championship schedule is as follows:

Friday, November 6
Quarter-final #1: StFX (4th) vs. Moncton (5th), 4:00pm
Quarter-final #2: Cape Breton (3rd) vs. Memorial (6th - Host), 6:15pm

Saturday, November 7
Semifinal #1: Dalhousie (1st) vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 1:00pm
Semifinal #2: UPEI (2nd) vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 3:15pm

Sunday, November 8
Championship Game: Semifinal Winners, 12:00pm

The Atlantic University Sport champion and runner-up will advance to the 2009 CIS Women's Soccer Championship, November 12-15, 2009, hosted by the University of Toronto.