2011 AUS Women's Soccer Awards and All-Stars Announced
SMU's Kelly Burgess named Most Valuable Player
November 3, 2011 (HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2011 women's soccer all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's ten head coaches following regular season play. Fifth-year Saint Mary's striker Kelly Burgess was named the Atlantic University Sport most valuable player, Thursday night.
Other AUS major award winners announced during the awards banquet hosted by the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, N.B., were Cape Breton's Karolyne Blain of Sudbury, Ont., who was named rookie of the year; Acadia's Cathleen Bleakney of Port Williams, N.S., who received the Student-Athlete Community Service award; and Saint Mary's Huskies head coach Mark Sweetapple, who was chosen coach of the year.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Kelly Burgess, Saint Mary's
Kelly Burgess, a fifth-year striker with the Saint Mary's Huskies, is the 2011 Atlantic University Sport women's soccer player of the year.
A native of Halifax, N.S., Kelly has been a consistent performer for the Huskies in each of her five years with the program and was also named an AUS all-star for the fifth time in as many years Thursday.
The 2011 season saw Burgess score a career-high 13 goals, tying her for the league lead and good enough to rank her third overall in CIS scoring.
Kelly scored in eight of SMU's 13 regular season games, including a hat-trick and three two-goal outings. Her five game-winning markers also led the AUS and she wraps up her career with the Huskies with an impressive 33 goals in regular season play.
"Kelly is the captain of our team and our offensive leader," says Saint Mary's head coach Mark Sweetapple. "She scored a lot of very important goals this year and has been without question our most valuable player."
Burgess joins former Saint Mary's star Signa Butler as the only SMU players to be named the conference's player of the year. Butler was the 1997 AUS most valuable player.
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.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Karolyne Blain, Cape Breton
Karolyne Blain follows in the footsteps of teammate Jessica Furtado, becoming the second Capers player in as many years to win this award and the sixth CBU player to earn AUS rookie-of-the-year honours since 1990.
The 5-foot-0 striker from Sudbury, Ont., scored 13 goals in her freshman season to lead all first-year players in Canada and tie for third overall in CIS scoring.
Karolyne, who started in all 13 of Cape Breton's regular season games this year, found the back of the net in eight of those contests, including five two-goal outings. Blain, who led the AUS in shots with 51, was also named a first team AUS all-star Thursday.
"Karolyne has been our best performer this year. She is able to use her speed and tenacity to score, but equally important is her ability to open up defences, allowing others to score," said Cape Breton head coach Stephen Timmons. "We have had some great goal scorers over the past number of years at CBU, but none of those players have produced like Karolyne, and this is her rookie season."
The only Atlantic conference players to be named CIS rookie of the year are Cape Breton's Michelle Desjardins in 2000 and Dalhousie's Mary-Beth Bowie in 1997.
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Cathleen Bleakney, Acadia
Bleakney, a fourth-year co-captain and fullback with the Axewomen, becomes the first Acadia recipient of the Student-Athlete Community Service Award, which has been presented since 2006.
Cathleen's current community service activities include volunteering with Camp Brigadoon for kids and youth living with Chronic illness and as a coach with the Nova Scotia Para Track team. At Port Williams Elementary, she works with a young child each week to help teach reading skills and she volunteers with the Hannah Miller Memorial hockey tournament and with the S.M.I.LE. (Sensory Motor Instructional Leadership Experience) program in Wolfville.
Cathleen also co-organized the 'Acadia Athletics Axe on Hunger' program, a food drive in support of Feed Nova Scotia and has helped out collecting teddy bears in the annual Teddy Bear Toss in support of Chrysalis House.
"Cathleen's leadership skills are well regarded not only within the Acadia athletic department but also within the local community, especially with young children in difficult circumstance," says Acadia head coach Amit Batra. "She is an academic all-Canadian, was named a co-captain of the team this season and is able to accomplish a significant amount in support of athletes and children in need in the community. Her selfless donation of her time is even more remarkable given her commitments away from the field of play, yet she is always available for her teammates and is the first one to offer to help to help in any situation."
COACH OF THE YEAR: Mark Sweetapple, Saint Mary's
Saint Mary's head coach Mark Sweetapple has been chosen by his peers as the 2011 AUS coach of the year.
In just his third season as head coach, Sweetapple guided the Huskies to a 10-2-1 regular season record, a second place finish in the Atlantic conference standings and the program's first bye to the AUS semi-finals since 2002.
After registering just four wins in both 2009 and 2010, Sweetapple led the Huskies to a 10-win season in 2011, the most for the Saint Mary's women's soccer program since 1994.
His career coaching record now stands at 19-15-7 including regular season and post-season play.
"Mark is a great person and a very special coach," said Steve Sarty, Director of Athletics at Saint Mary's. "He was first coach I hired as AD and I knew right away he would do an amazing job. He is a motivator, a great leader and what he has done in the three years he has been at Saint Mary's as our head soccer coach has been very enjoyable to watch".
Sweetapple becomes the first Saint Mary's head coach to ever be named the AUS women's soccer coach of the year.
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.
FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS
The AUS first and second team all-stars were also announced Thursday. They are as follows:
First Team AUS All-Stars:
Striker - Kelly Burgess, Saint Mary's (5th year - Halifax, N.S.)
Striker - Karolyne Blain, Cape Breton (1st year - Sudbury, Ont.)
Striker - Chelsie McInnis, UPEI (5th year - Summerside, P.E.I.)
Midfielder - Rieka Santilli, Dalhousie (4th year - Halifax, N.S.)
Midfielder - Michelle Yates, Saint Mary's (3rd year - Fall River, N.S.)
Midfielder - Robbyn McNeill, Cape Breton (3rd year - Kentville, N.S.)
Midfielder - Andrea Archibald, UPEI (4th year - Saskatoon, Sask.)
Defender - Meaghan Ramsden, StFX (3rd year - Ottawa, Ont.)
Defender - Sara Stewart, UPEI (5th year - Charlottetown, P.E.I.)
Defender - Anne Langley, Saint Mary's (5th year - Halifax, N.S.)
Keeper - Chanelle Roy, UPEI (4th year - Bathurst, N.B.)
Second Team AUS All-Stars:
Striker - Maria Scichilone, UPEI (1st year - Rothesay, N.B.)
Striker - Maura Woodman, StFX (1st year - Halifax, N.S.)
Midfielder -Joanna Blodgett, Dalhousie (3rd year - Ottawa, Ont.)
Midfielder -Lindsay Millett, Saint Mary's (2nd year - Markham, Ont.)
Midfielder -Heather Ambery, UNB (4th year - Ottawa, Ont.)
Defender - Andrea Murphy, Acadia (4th year - Saskatoon, Sask.)
Defender - Kristy MacGregor-Bales, Dalhousie (1st year - Ottawa, Ont.)
Defender - Josée LeBlanc, Moncton (4th year - Grande-Digue, N.B.)
Defender - Allison Bell-Davies, Cape Breton (2nd year - Pickering, Ont.)
Defender - Elise Arseneau, UNB (4th year - Fredericton, N.B.)
Keeper - Taryn McKenna, Dalhousie (3rd year - Oakville, Ont.)
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The 2011 Subway Atlantic University Sport Women's Soccer Championship will be hosted by the University of New Brunswick, November 4-6, 2011.
All five games of the championship will be available via webcast at http://vimeopro.com/streamit/auswomenssoccer
The championship schedule is as follows:
Friday, November 4th
Quarter-final #1: Dalhousie (3rd) vs. UNB (6th), 12:00pm
Quarter-final #2: Cape Breton (4th) vs. StFX (5th), 2:15pm
Saturday, November 5th
Semifinal #1: UPEI (1st) vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 12:00pm
Semifinal #2: Saint Mary's (2nd) vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 2:15pm
Sunday, November 6th
Championship Game: Semifinal Winners, 2:00pm
Final AUS women's soccer standings: http://www.atlanticuniversitysport.com/womens/soccer/
Final AUS women's soccer statistics: http://www.atlanticuniversitysport.com/womens/soccer/stats/2011/CONFSTAT.HTM
The Atlantic University Sport champion will advance to the 2011 CIS Women's Soccer Championship, November 10-13, 2011, hosted by McGill University.
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