BURLINGTON, Ont. - A total of four Gryphons men's soccer players were recognized on Thursday (Nov. 2) as Ontario University Athletics announced the conference's All-Stars and major award winners for the 2017-18 men's soccer season.
Gryphon Men's Soccer 2017 OUA West All-Stars & Award Winners
OUA West 1st Team All-Star
#10 Jace Kotsopoulos
#12 Youssef Zaghloul
OUA West 2nd Team All-Star
#11 Zachary Rushe
#16 Ian Vidovich
Last season,
Jace Kotsopoulos cemented himself as one of the top goal scorers in the country. In 2017, Kotsopoulos was once again one of the league's top strikers. Despite missing some significant time due to injury, Kotsopoulos was named an OUA West Division 1st Team All-Star after scoring 10 goals in 10 games played. It marks the first time that Kotsopoulos has been named an OUA West 1st Team All-Star. Last season, Jace finished 2nd in U SPORTS with 17 goals scored and was named an OUA West 2nd Team All-Star.
Joining Kotsopoulos on the OUA West 1st Team is third year midfielder
Youssef Zaghloul. Zaghloul, a Mechanical Engineering student from Oakville, has helped anchor the left side of the Gryphon midfield since arriving at U of G three years ago. The skillful midfielder was clutch in last year's OUA title run and impressed again in 2017, scoring 4 goals during the regular season.
On the OUA West 2nd Team was one Gryphon veteran and one Gryphon rookie. Fifth year left back
Zachary Rushe capped off his Gryphon career with his first All-Star nod. Rookie
Ian Vidovich meanwhile, played almost every minute of every game while serving as the Gryphons' centre back or defensive midfielder in what was a standout rookie season for the first year man from Toronto.
For more information on the rest of the men's soccer all-stars, visit www.oua.ca.
2017 OUA Men's Soccer Major Award Winners
Most Valuable Player (East) - Gabirel Bitar, Carleton
Most Valuable Player (West) - Cristian Cavallini, York
Coach of the Year (East) - Kwesi Loney, Carleton
Coach of the Year (West) - Lucio Ianiero, York
Rookie of the Year (East) - Gabriel Bitar, Carleton
Rookie of the Year (West) – Connor Wilson, Western
Community Service Award (East) – Andrea Cicciarella, UOIT
OUA West Division First-Team All-Stars
Kody Thomson, Western, Goalie
Daniel Gogarty, York, Defence
Tahrik Rodrigues, Laurier, Defence
De Vante Walker, York, Defence
Eric Bradey, Brock, Defence
Yunus Mollayev, McMaster, Midfielder
Youssef Zaghou, Guelph, Midfielder
Cristian Cavallini, York, Midfielder
Steve Kloutsouniotis, York, Midfielder
Jace Kotsopoulos, Guelph, Striker
Dusan Kovacevic, McMaster, Striker
OUA West Division Second Team All-Stars
Jesse DiDomenico, McMaster, Goalie
Zachary Rushe, Gueph, Defence
Tony Li, McMaster, Defence
Aaron Schneebeli, Western, Defence
Jon Hodge, Western, Defence
Sasha Ricciuti, McMaster, Midfielder
Jonathan Lao, York, Midfielder
Mohammed Reza Nafar, Western, Midfielder
Ian Vidovich, Guelph, Midfielder
Dylan Carreiro, York, Striker
Braeden Gee, Western, Striker
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OUA East Division First Team All-Stars
Connor Vande Weghe, Laurentian, Goalie
Devon Bowyer, Toronto, Defence
Christopher Malekos, Carleton, Defence
Diego Politis, Carleton, Defence
Nikola Stakic, Toronto, Defence
Lukas MacNaughton, Toronto, Midfielder
Dario Conte, Carleton, Midfielder
Marko Mandekic, Toronto, Midfielder
Tristan St. Pierre, Carleton, Midfielder
Gabriel Bitar, Carleton, Striker
Stefan Karajovanovic, Carleton, Striker
OUA East Division Second Team All-Stars
Alex Jones, Queen's, Goalie
Kenny Lioutas, Toronto, Defence
Davon Greaves, UOIT, Defence
Jamal Brown, Nipissing, Defence
Liam Ezzard, Laurentian, Defence
Erik Petrovic, UOIT, Midfielder
Evan Stronach, Laurentian, Midfielder
Aaron Chia, Trent, Midfielder
Nicholas Correa, Laurentian, Midfielder
Nirun Sivananthan, Toronto, Striker
Fabio Campoli, UOIT, Striker
