OTTAWA – Trinity Western forward
Christian Rossi Christian Rossi captured the Lou Bilek award as the U SPORTS Rookie of the Year, Wednesday, as the national award winners were celebrated at the annual All-Canadian Gala.
Rossi, who was also named to the U SPORTS All-Rookie Team, becomes the first Spartan men's soccer player to win the U SPORTS Rookie of the Year, as the Surrey, B.C. product started 10-of-12 matches for the Spartans this season, scoring a team-high five goals, four of which came on the road. Rossi notched a pair of tallies in a 2-2 draw against the eventual Canada West champions from UBC. He followed that up by playing a part in the lead-up to all three goals in TWU's 3-3 tie the next night against the same Thunderbirds side.
"Christian came to us from Surrey United with a ton of potential," said TWU coach
Mike Shearon. "During the COVID break, he worked hard and really got after his game. When he came to us this fall, he was amazing and he really lived up to that potential. He scored five goals and had one assist, but he was really influential in nine of our 17 goals this year. Without his dynamic ability, we probably wouldn't have done anywhere near as well as we did this year. The underrated part of his game is the defensive side. He worked tirelessly there, covering tons of ground and tracking guys. He's beginning to understand how defensive structure works, which is really unique for a young player."
Rossi is the third straight Canada West student-athlete to win the Lou Bilek Award as U SPORTS rookie of the year.
In the winner's circle, Rossi was joined by Montreal forward Guy-Frank Essomé Penda who was honoured with the Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy as U SPORTS men's soccer Player of the Year, while McMaster defender Tchouambou Youmbi earned the Student-Athlete Community Service Award for his outstanding contribution both on and off the playing field and Victoria bench boss Bruce Wilson received the Fox 40 Coach of the Year award.
LOU BILEK AWARD (Rookie of the Year): Christian Rossi, Trinity Western
First-year Trinity Western University forward
Christian Rossi is the U SPORTS Rookie of the Year after an impressive first season for the Spartans.
The Surrey, B.C. product started 10-of-12 matches for the Spartans this season, scoring a team-high five goals, four of which came on the road. Rossi notched a pair of tallies in a 2-2 draw against the eventual Canada West champions from UBC.
Rossi is the third straight Canada West student-athlete to win the Lou Bilek Award as U SPORTS rookie of the year.
Nominees
CW: Christian Rossi, Trinity Western (Winner)
OUA: Matteo de Brienne, Carleton
RSEQ: Anthony Phelps, Concordia
AUS: Jose Maria Ribeiro de Cunha, Cape Breton
JOE JOHNSON MEMORIAL TROPHY (Player of the Year): Guy-Frank Essomé Penda, Montreal
Guy-Frank Essomé Penda is the U SPORTS men's soccer player of the year. He finished the 2021 season with seven goals and two assists. The fifth year Computer Engineering student from Almetyevsk, Russia netted two of his four of his tallies against the Laval Rouge et Or and the UQTR Patriotes, two teams that have been ranked in the U SPORTS Top 10 all season.
Essome Penda led the Carabins to their fifth consecutive RSEQ championship notching three assists in a 3-0 conference final over the Laval Rouge et Or.
Nominees
CW: Mohammed El Gandour, Mount Royal
OUA: Dieu Merci Yuma, York
RSEQ: Guy-Frank Essome Penda, Montreal (winner)
AUS: Charlie Waters, Cape Breton
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Cheikh Tchouambou Youmbi
McMaster centre back Cheikh Tchouambou Youmbi is 2021 recipient of the U SPORTS Student-Athlete Community Service Award.
As a pivotal player on the McMaster back end, Youmbi helped the Mauraders hold their opponents to 1.29 goals per games on the season, while earning an OUA conference all-star nod for his on-field contributions.
The third-year health sciences major is more than an outstanding athlete. Youmbi helped jump start the school's first Black student-athlete council, works with the McMaster Athletes Care committee visiting elementary schools and children's hospital, while servicing as vice president of the Black Aspiring Physicians at McMaster.
Nominees
CW: Tobias Hyrich-Krueger, Saskatchewan
OUA: Cheikh Tchouambou Youmbi, McMaster (Winner)
AUS: Dylan Crichton, Memorial
FOX 40 COACH OF THE YEAR: Bruce Wilson, Victoria
For the third time in his 34-year career as head coach of the Victoria Vikes, Bruce Wilson is the U SPORTS Coach of the Year.
Wilson led Victoria to a 6-3-3 record and a first-place finish in the Canada West conference West Division before capturing its 13th conference title in program history.
Under Wilson's guidance, the Vikes were also awarded the 2021 Canada West Fair Play award as the least penalized team in the conference.
Wilson previous won the Fox 40 U SPORTS men's soccer Coach of the Year Award in 1991 and 1996.
Nominees
CW: Bruce Wilson, Victoria (Winner)
OUA: Carmine Isacco, York
RSEQ: Pat Raimondo
AUS: Jake Stanford
2021 U SPORTS MEN'S SOCCER ALL-CANADIANS
First Team
Pos. First Name Last Name School Elig. Hometown Program
GK Félix Goulet Montréal 5 St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC Medicine/Audioolgy
D Evan Libke Victoria 5 North Vancouver, BC Education
M Nick Aquino StFX 4 Cole Harbour, NS BBA
D Euan Bauld Cape Breton 4 East Lothian, SC BA
M Dusan Kovacevic McMaster 5 Oakville, ON Master's Kinesiology
D Raphaël Garcia Carleton 1 Ottawa, ON Law
F Heikel Jarras Laval 3 Québec, QC Statistics
F Dieu Merci Yuma York 4 Toronto, ON Kinesiology and Health Sciences
F Mohamed El Gandour Mount Royal 3 Calgary, AB Business
F Charlie Waters Cape Breton 3 Lancashire, EN BACS
F Guy-Frank Essomé Penda Montréal 5 Almetyevsk, RU Computer Engineering
Second Team
Pos. First Name Last Name School Elig. Hometown Program
GK Jake Ruschkowski Calgary 4 Calgary, AB Engineering
D Joshua Read StFX 5 Corsham, UK Education
D Kareem Sow Montréal 3 Ottawa, ON Mechanical Engineering
D Jadon Vilfort York 2 Scarborough, ON Psychology
M Justin Anderson-Louch Mount Royal 5 Calgary, AB Business
M Soji Olatoye York 4 Brampton, ON Psychology
F Mohammad Reza Nafar Concordia 4 Jeddah, ON Supply Chain Management
M Lucas Doros Guelph 4 Newmarket, ON BSCH.MSCI
F Ajeej Sarkaria Alberta 5 Edmonton, AB Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences
F Isaac Koch Victoria 5 West Kelowna, BC Education
F Kairo Coore Cape Breton 2 Whitby, ON BBA
All-Rookie Team
Pos. First Name Last Name School Hometown Program
D José Maria Ribeiro da Cunha Cape Breton Estoril, PT Sports Physical Activity Leadership
F Sean Freeman Saint Mary's Halifax, NS Science
F Georges Musitu Moncton Ottawa, ON Multidisciplinary
M Anthony Phelps Concordia Montréal, QC Certificate of Science Foundations
D Doryan Soualem Laval Castres, FR Psychology
F Bryan Gnaly Sherbrooke Sherbrooke, QC Multidisciplinary
F Matteo de Brienne Carleton Ottawa, ON Media Production and Design
M Mohamed Al Shakman McMaster Ancaster, ON Social Sciences
M Matheus Mello Waterloo Toronto, ON Business and Science
F Christian Rossi Trinity Western Surrey, BC Human Kinetics
F Kundai Dziwa Calgary Calgary, AB Engineering
D Caden Rogozinski Mount Royal Calgary, AB Business
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.
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