2012 Canada West men's soccer major awards and all-stars announced

Source: Canada West Communications

EDMONTON - UBC's Gagandeep Dosanjh has been named Canada West men’s soccer Player of the Year. Joining him on the awards list are Alberta's Niko Saler and Trinity Western coach Pat Rohla.

The Abbotsford, B.C. native led the Canada West in goals (12), assists, (9), and points (21), while leading the Thunderbirds to an undefeated regular season (11-0-3) and first place in the conference. The 3rd year student returned to the form of his rookie campaign in which he scored nine goals on route to being named a First Team Canada West All-Star and helping UBC to a second place finish at the CIS National Championships.

“Gagan has had a terrific season to date and I’m really happy to see him rewarded with this prestigious honor as MVP,” commented UBC head coach Mike Mosher. “Gagan is a real pleasure to coach. On top of his skill and ability on the ball, he is often one of the hardest working players on the game field and practice field. His work rate and competitiveness are second to none and set a great example and standard for his teammates.”

Alberta Golden Bears defender Niko Saler has been chosen Rookie of the Year.

Saler, who is originally from Lethbridge, finished the 2012-13 season with one goal and three assists, as well as with 12 shots on goal, but it is his intangibles, not his stats, that won him the award according to 28-year Alberta head coach Len Vickery.

“Niko is a player that stands-out on the soccer field,” said Vickery. “He has tremendous composure on the ball and is equally adept at defending as well as keeping his team in possession. He has a fantastic left-foot that can switch the ball or deliver a dangerous ball into the penalty area from free kicks and corners. The Golden Bears are extremely happy to have him in our line-up.”

This was the year that Coach of the Year, Trinity Western Spartans' Pat Rohla, finally had “his” team.

After taking over as the Spartans head coach in 2009, this was the first year in which Rohla himself had recruited and built the bulk of Trinity Western’s starting lineup. And despite losing nine players to graduation last year, including six starters, Rohla’s squad, with his distinct stamp on it, put together a 9-1-4 record this year – the Spartans best under his direction – and climbed as high as No. 5 in the CIS Top 10. This year, the Spartans, who had two rookies on the back line and a goalie in his first year as the starter, allowed just 12 goals in 14 games. After missing the playoffs just two years ago following a 5-5-4 record, Rohla has brought the Spartans back into both Canada West and CIS contention.

“What a great honour for Pat, to be selected by his peers for this prestigious award,” said Spartans athletic director Murray Hall. “Pat is a humble person, going about his work with a blue-collar approach – getting the job done, day in and day out, as part of our Complete Champion Approach™. He has built a great staff around him, recruited top student-athletes who fit the high performance and high character culture he is instilling in the program. Pat’s team knows the game of soccer, but it is also always learning more and more about what it takes to be contributing and serving citizens on both a local and global scale, as our men's soccer players are true leaders in community outreach.”

Following is a list of 2012 Canada West men’s soccer Awards & All-Stars:

AWARDS

Player of the Year: Gagandeep Dosanjh, UBC

Rookie of the Year: Niko Saler, Alberta

Coach of the Year: Pat Rohla, Trinity Western

Fair Play Award: Victoria

ALL-STARS (alphabetical by position)

First Team Second Team
Goalkeeper Jay Vetsch, Alberta Mark Village, Fraser Valley

Fullbacks Paul Clerc, UBC Gavin Barrett, Victoria
Will Hyde, UBC Scott Gilroy, Alberta
Andrew Ravenhill, Victoria Jeff Marsden, Calgary
Niko Saler, Alberta Brayden Volkenant, Trinity Western

Midfielders Brayden Gant, Trinity Western Brandon Bonifacio, UBC
Brett Levis, Saskatchewan Cam Hundal, Victoria
Navid Mashinchi, UBC Zenon Markevych, Alberta
Marco Visintin, UBC Cameron Schmidt, Alberta

Strikers Gagandeep Dosanjh, UBC Jarvis Ambaka, Trinity Western
Marcus Johnstone, Alberta Izak Lawrence, Calgary


2012 All-Stars with previous selections…

Gavin Barrett, UVic 2011 (1st) 2011 CIS (2nd) 2011 CIS Tournament
Brandon Bonifacio, UBC 2010 (1st) 2010 CIS Tournament
Gagandeep Fosanjh, UBC 2010 (1st) 2010 CIS Tournament
Brayden Gant, TWU 2011 (2nd)
Cam Hundal, UVic 2011 (2nd) 2011 CIS Tournament
Will Hyde, UBC 2011 (2nd) 2010 (1st)
Marcus Johnstone, AB 2010 (1st)
Izak Lawrence, Cgy 2010 (2nd)
Brett Levis, SK 2011 (2nd)
Zenon Markevych, AB 2010 (1st)
Jeff Marsden, Cgy 2011 (2nd)
Navid Mashinchi, UBC 2011 (1st) 2011 CIS (2nd)
Andrew Ravenhill, UVic 2011 CIS Tournament

This weekend the Alberta Golden Bears are hosting the Canada West men’s soccer Final Six, with quarter-finals on Friday, semifinals Saturday and medal matches scheduled for Sunday.

Each game this weekend will have live video and stats broadcast on www.canadawest.tv.

Award winners now become finalists for Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national awards, to be handed out at the end of the season. The 2012 men’s soccer national championship will be hosted by the Université Laval, November 8-11 in Quebec City.

About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles every year, 1997 to 2010. Comprised of 16 schools from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada West produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games. “cwuaa” on Twitter.