۲ݮƵ’s Scholefield repeats as all-Canadian
By Earl Zukerman, ۲ݮƵ & Michel Bélanger, CIS
OTTAWA, Ont. – ۲ݮƵ’s James Scholefield, a fifth-year senior from
Senneville, Que., has earned second-team all-Canadian honours for
the second consecutive season.
The 5-foot-7, 160-pound midfielder, a four-time conference
all-star, tied for the team scoring lead and finished fourth among
league leaders with four goals in 11 games. Scholefield, a
22-year-old management student majoring in international business,
was also selected twice during the season by the opposing coach as
۲ݮƵ’s player of the game.
The top major award winner announced Wednesday night during the
All-Canadian banquet in Ottawa, was Francesco Bruno, a third-year
York midfielder, who was named the player of the year in Canadian
Interuniversity Sport men’s soccer. The Toronto native is the first
Lion to receive the Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy since the inception
of the award in 1991.
Other major CIS awards went to Western Ontario’s Pat Mroczek of St.
Catharines, Ont., named the nation’s top rookie, Wilfrid Laurier’s
Imran Ahmed of Windsor, Ont., received the Student-Athlete
Community Service Award, and Dalhousie’s Pat Nearing was chosen
coach of the year.
The 2008 CIS championship gets under way Thursday at Carleton
University. The gold-medal final is slated for Sunday at 3
p.m.
Championship web site:
Bruno, who joined the Lions from Syracuse University in 2007, tied
for second in the nation in scoring during the regular season with
10 goals in 14 games, including three game-winning markers. His
brilliant play helped York finish first in the OUA West for a
second straight year with a 9-4-1 record.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound junior added two goals in a quarter-final
victory over Brock and guided the Lions to the OUA final and a
berth in the CIS championship for the second season in a row. For
the second consecutive year, he was a first-team OUA West all-star
and found a place on the first all-Canadian squad.
Bruno, a business and society student, was a member of Team Canada
at the FIFA under-20 world championship in 2003.
“Francesco is one of the most complete players we have in this
country. He can defend, he can pass, he can dribble and he can
score,” said York head coach Carmine Isacco. “When you combine all
of his ability with a ton of integrity, without question he is
deserving of the player of the year award.”
Mroczek is the first Mustang to claim rookie-of-the-year honours
since the award was first presented in 1999, and the third straight
winner from the OUA West after York’s Moreno Alberti in 2007 and
Jamaal Smith two years ago.
The first-year forward was the highest-scoring freshman in the
nation this fall with eight goals in 14 conference outings, which
tied him for tenth in CIS and fourth in the OUA. The business
management student added two markers in the first round of the
playoffs, scoring twice in the final 10 minutes of regulation to
lift Western to a 3-2 win over Guelph.
His offensive prowess earned Mroczek OUA first-team all-star and
second-team all-Canadian status.
“Pat has exceeded our expectations when we recruited him as a
striker to score goals for Western,” said Mustangs head coach Rock
Basacco. “He is deceptively fast and has a great first touch that
sets him up for a quick strike on goal. He is exceptionally strong
in the air and scored four goals with his head.”
Ahmed, a 5-foot-8, 160-pound midfielder, was an integral part of
the Golden Hawks’ success this season as Laurier captured its first
OUA banner since 2000 and earned a berth in the CIS championship
for the first time since the team claimed back-to-back national
titles in 2000 and 2001.
Away from the pitch, Ahmed, who holds a 9.0 grade point average and
is applying for grad school, is president of both the Lettermen
Club and the Italian Club at Laurier, groups that are responsible
for organizing school functions, fundraising initiatives and
volunteer opportunities that benefit both the school and the
community.
Ahmed has helped raise money for the fight against breast cancer
through his involvement with the university’s women’s flag football
organization, has taken trips to local schools to help children
with arts and crafts, and has organized a Lettermen Kids Day, which
brought elementary school kids from the Kitchener-Waterloo
Community together to show them the importance of athletics and
academics. He is also an instructor with a local soccer academy,
Elite Athletes International, which develops players aged six to
16.
“Imran is one of those people who wants to be involved in many
aspects of life,” commented Laurier head coach Mario Halapir. “He
enjoys working with kids and trying to do things to raise awareness
of sport and create positive opportunities.”
Nearing becomes the first Dalhousie sideline boss to be named CIS
coach of the year since the inception of the distinction in 1981,
and is the first recipient from the AUS since UPEI’s Lewis Page in
2002.
In his tenth season at the helm of the Tigers’ program, Nearing
operated one of the most impressive turnarounds in CIS men’s soccer
history, leading his team to a first AUS banner and a first berth
in the CIS championship since 1999 only one year after Dalhousie
finished at the bottom of the conference standings with only one
win to its credit.
The 2008 Tigers compiled a 7-4-2 record in the regular season to
take fourth place in the AUS standings, only one point back of both
Moncton and Saint Mary’s, before going on a tear at the conference
championship with three wins in three days, including a 1-0 upset
victory over top-seeded UNB in the gold-medal final.
Nearing was in his first campaign with the Tigers when they last
competed at the CIS tourney, in 1999.
The all-Canadian teams were also announced on Thursday.
The 10 players joining Bruno on the first CIS squad are Montreal
goalkeeper Gérardo Argento of Montreal, Montreal defender Augustin
Nechad of France, UBC defender Graham Smith of Abbotsford, B.C.,
Saint Mary’s defender Jonathan McNeil of Halifax, York midfielder
Gerard Ladiyou of Burlington, Ont., Moncton midfielder Olivier
Babineau of Dieppe, N.B., UBC midfielder Nick Poole of Mission,
B.C., Sherbrooke striker Yannick Rome-Gosselin of
St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., Victoria forward Cole McFarlane of
Calgary, and Carleton striker Matthew D’Angelo of Ottawa.
Named CIS rookie of the year in 2005, Argento is a CIS all-star for
the fourth time in as many seasons, including three first-team
nods. Smith was a member of the second CIS team a year ago, while
McFarlane was a first-team all-Canadian in 2006.
Babineau is the first Moncton all-Canadian since 1993, while
Rome-Gosselin is the first Sherbrooke player to make the first team
since 1994.
Joining Mroczek on the second CIS squad are UBC goalkeeper Srdjan
Djekanovic of Vancouver, Carleton defender Nicholas Persichino of
Thunder Bay, Ont., Trinity Western defender Paul Hamilton of
Calgary, Laval defender Alexandre Lévesque-Tremblay of
Baie-Saint-Paul, Que., Montreal midfielder Wandrille Lefevre of
France, Dalhousie midfielder Ross Hagen of Calgary, ۲ݮƵ forward
/ midfielder James Scholefield of Senneville, Que., UNB striker Ken
Morrison of Fredericton, UPEI striker Paul Craig of Charlottetown,
and Alberta forward Brett Colvin of Calgary.
2008 CIS MEN'S SOCCER AWARDS & ALL-CANADIANS
Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy (player of the year): Francesco Bruno,
York
Rookie of the year: Pat Mroczek, Western Ontario
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Imran Ahmed, Wilfrid
Laurier
Coach of the year: Pat Nearing, Dalhousie
First Team
Position Athlete University Year Hometown Faculty
Goalkeeper Gerardo Argento Montreal 4 Montreal, Que. Law
Defender Augustin Nechad Montreal 3 Rueil Malmaison, France
Administration
Defender Graham Smith UBC 4 Abbotsford, B.C. Commerce
Defender Jonathan McNeil Saint Mary’s 5 Halifax, N.S. Science
Midfielder Gerard Ladiyou York 2 Burlington, Ont. Arts
Midfielder Francesco Bruno York 3 Toronto, Ont. Business &
Society
Midfielder Olivier Babineau Moncton 3 Dieppe, N.B. Science
Kinesiology
Midfielder Nick Poole UBC 3 Mission, B.C. Human Kinetics
Striker Yannick Rome-Gosselin Sherbrooke 4 St-Jean-sur-Richelieu,
Que. Education
Forward Cole McFarlane Victoria 4 Calgary, Alta. Humanities
Striker Matthew D’Angelo Carleton 5 Ottawa, Ont. Arts
Second Team
Goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic UBC 4 Vancouver, B.C. Arts
Defender Nicholas Persichino Carleton 3 Thunder Bay, Ont.
Commerce
Defender Paul Hamilton Trinity Western 3 Calgary, Alta.
Education
Defender Alex Lévesque-Tremblay Laval 4 Baie-Saint-Paul, Que.
Business Administration
Midfielder Wandrille Lefevre Montreal 2 Chartres, France
Administration
Midfielder Ross Hagen Dalhousie 3 Calgary, Alta. Commerce
Forward / Mid. James Scholefield ۲ݮƵ 5 Senneville, Que. Commerce
(International Management)
Striker Ken Morrison UNB 4 Fredericton, N.B. Science
Kinesiology
Striker Paul Craig UPEI 3 Charlottetown, P.E.I. Business
Administration
Forward Brett Colvin Alberta 2 Calgary, Alta. Business
Forward Pat Mroczek Western 1 St. Catharines, Ont. Business
Management