TORONTO (CIS) – Cam Hundal, a fifth-year midfielder from the University of Victoria, was named the CIS player of the year in men's soccer, Wednesday evening.
The native of Terrace, B.C., became the first UVic standout to merit the Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy.
Other national award winners announced during the All-Canadian Gala at the Toscana Banquet and Conference Centre were UQAM goalkeeper Valentin Lamoulie, who received the Lou Bilek Award as rookie of the year; HÂþ» midfielder Sangmuk Choi, who claimed the Student-Athlete Community Service Award; and UQAM's Christophe Dutarte, who was voted coach of the year.
The 2015 CIS championship kicks off Thursday at York University and concludes Sunday with the gold-medal final at 2 p.m. All 11 matches from the eight-team tournament will be webcast live on CIS-SIC.tv.
JOE JOHNSON MEMORIAL TROPHY (player of the year): Cam Hundal, Victoria
Hundal started his university career with a bang in 2011 when he was named the Canada West rookie of the year and voted MVP of the CIS championship after he helped the Vikes capture the Sam Davidson Memorial Trophy on home turf. The five-foot-nine midfielder hasn't looked back since, meriting Canada West all-star status in each of his five campaigns and his first all-Canadian nod in 2015.
This season, the education major, who started every game for UVic, was second in Canada West in points (13) and third in goals (8) - both team highs - as he led the Vikes to second place in the Pacific division standings with a 6-3-3 mark. A two-time Canada West male athlete of the week this fall, Hundal added six points in three playoff contests to help Victoria reach the conference final, including his team's lone goal in a 2-1 gold-medal loss to UBC.
"Cam has put in five tremendous years into our university and from his first season he proved to us his quality of play. Now, five years later, he has been our captain and best player offensively this season," said Vikes head coach Bruce Wilson. "Cam is very skillful with the ball and has incredible speed and quickness, which is sometimes difficult to coach. He came here with natural ability but got even better, bigger and stronger over the years and he certainly understands the league. There is no doubt that this award is definitely warranted."
The other nominees were Cape Breton striker Justin Maheu, UQAM midfielder James Louis-Jeune and Ryerson midfielder Raheem Rose.
LOU BILEK AWARD (rookie of the year): Valentin Lamoulie, UQAM
Lamoulie is the first UQAM player to claim the Lou Bilek Award, which was first presented in 1999.
The 18-year-old from Aix-en-Provence, France, was nothing short of spectacular in his CIS debut, meriting a spot on the first RSEQ all-star team and on the second all-Canadian unit. Starting eight of 12 league games for the Citadins, the open studies student allowed only seven goals for an average of .088 per contest and posted a pair of shutouts. Thanks in large part to his brilliant play, UQAM finished first in the RSEQ standings with a 10-1-1 record and went on to repeat as conference champion.
Lamoulie arrived on the Montreal campus with an exceptional resume as he trained with the best players in France as a member of his country's national team program.
"Despite his young age, Valentin has demonstrated an impressive confidence level and abilities," said Citadins head coach Christophe Dutarte. "He was consistent and dominant throughout the season. Obviously, playing such a key position, he quickly became not only a key element of our team, but also a key part of our group synergy."
Midfielders Joel Eckert-Ayensa of Cape Breton, Noah Pio of Windsor and Shamit Shome of Alberta were also in the running.
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Sangmuk Choi, HÂþ»
Choi is the third winner from HÂþ» since the inception of the award in 2005, following in the footsteps of Nathan Rogers (2013) and Chris Haughn (2006).
In his fifth and final AUS season, Choi has proven himself to be a dedicated CIS student-athlete, making the Dean's List and earning Academic All-Canadian status every year since he arrived on the Halifax campus. When not in the classroom or on the pitch, the Anyang, South Korea native gives a lot of his spare time to volunteerism.
For the past three years, he has been a volunteer research assistant with the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy in Children and Youth's data collection project. He works as an exercise leader's assistant with the Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Health in Motion program, helping with patients in their recovery. He also spends time working with Special Olympians during Special Tigers days and with the HÂþ» International Students Association soccer tournament.
Choi is a kinesiology student who also plays on the HÂþ» tennis team and referees soccer. He aspires to be a physiotherapist and become a national-level referee.
"Sang has been an outstanding CIS student-athlete at HÂþ»," said Tigers head coach Pat Nearing. "He works exceptionally hard in games, practices and in the classroom, and that hard work has paid off. He has been a key member on our roster and has a cumulative GPA of 3.95. Sang is a quiet and humble person with exceptional personal characteristics. Student-athletes like him don't come along very often and it has been a privilege to coach him."
The other nominees were Sherbrooke defender David Giroux-Jérôme and McMaster midfielder Ross Genovese.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Christophe Dutarte, UQAM
A three-time RSEQ coach of the year, including each of the past two campaigns, Dutarte is the first UQAM bench boss to be honoured at the national level in men's soccer.
So far, his 19th season at the helm might be is finest. The Citadins took first place in the RSEQ standings with a superb 10-1-1 – their best under his guidance – and led the league in both goals scored (31) and against (8). For the first time in history, the team reached the top of the national rankings, spending five weeks at No.1
Since Dutarte took over the program in 1997, the Citadins have qualified for the playoffs 14 times, have captured three RSEQ banners – including the last two – and won their lone CIS medal in 1998 (bronze). He has a career RSEQ coaching record of 113-85-46 for a winning percentage of .557.
"Christophe has been at the helm of the Citadins for the last 19 years and we are extremely happy to witness the incredible progression of our men's soccer program here at UQAM," said athletic director Daniel Méthot. "A man with solid values, Christophe was able to surround himself with individuals who share these values that are also dear to our program and our institution. Christophe and his coaching staff propose a style of play that is team oriented and exciting to watch and student-athletes at UQAM have certainly bought into that system, which translated into great results last year and again this season. We are very happy about these results and even prouder about the way they were obtained. We strive to represent our RSEQ conference with pride and passion, which is what we are all about!"
Acadia's Findlay MacRae, Ryerson's Filip Prostran and UBC's Mike Mosher were the other finalists.
ALL-CANADIAN TEAMS
The all-Canadian teams were also announced on Wednesday.
Joining CIS player of the year Cam Hundal and conference MVPs Justin Maheu, James Louis-Jeune and Raheem Rose on the first team were UBC goalkeeper Chad Bush, defenders Andrew Snyder of Acadia, Maxime Leconte of UQAM and Sandro Rajkovic of Cape Breton, midfielders Guillaume Comptois-Noël of UQTR and Jonathan Lao of York, as well as Windsor striker Leighton Speechley-Price.
Maheu (2014 – first team), Leconte (2014 – second), Rajkovic (2014 & 2013 – first) and Lao (2014 – second / 2013 – first) are all repeat all-Canadians. Maheu was the CIS player of the year last season.
In addition to CIS rookie of the year Valentin Lamoulie, the second unit for 2015 is comprised of defenders Lukas MacNaughton of Toronto, Niko Saler of Alberta, Tyrone Downes of York and Alexandre Haddad of Montreal, midfielders Charles Arsenault of Laval, Marcus Lees of UNB and Martin Dabrowski of Ryerson, as well as strikers Gagandeep Dosanjh of UBC, Bezick Evraire of HÂþ» and Dominic Russo of Calgary.
Haddad (2013 & 2011 – second), Lees (2014 – second), Dabrowski (2014 – second), Dosanjh (2012 – first) and Evraire (2013 – second) had been honoured at the national level in previous years.
CIS MEN'S SOCCER: 2015 AWARDS & ALL-CANADIANS
Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy (player of the year): Cam Hundal, Victoria
Lou Bilek Award (rookie of the year): Valentin Lamoulie, UQAM
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Sangmuk Choi, HÂþ»
Coach of the year: Christophe Dutarte, UQAM
First Team
Pos. - Athlete - University - Year - Hometown - Academic Program
GK - Chad Bush - UBC - 1 - Ottawa, Ont. - Arts
D - Andrew - Snyder - Acadia - 4 - Bridgewater. N.S. - Business Admin.
D - Maxime Leconte - UQAM - 3 - Montreal, Que. - Administration
D - Sandro Rajkovic - Cape Breton - 5 - Hamilton, Ont. - Business Admin.
M - Raheem Rose - Ryerson - 2 - Etobicoke, Ont. - Geographic Analysis
M - James Louis-Jeune - UQAM - 4 - Saint-Léonard, Que. - Administration
M - Guillaume Comtois-Noël - UQTR - 3 - Montreal, Que. - Administration
M - Jonathan Lao - York - 3 - Unionville, Ont. - Liberal Arts
S - Justin Maheu - Cape Breton - 3 - Ottawa, Ont. - Business Admin.
S - Cam Hundal - Victoria - 5 - Terrace, B.C. - Education
S - Leighton Speechley-Price - Windsor - 3 - Lymington, England - Business
Second Team
GK - Valentin Lamoulie - UQAM - 1 - Aix-en-Provence, France - Open Studies
D - Lukas MacNaughton - Toronto - 3 - Brussels, Belgium - Architecture
D - Niko Saler - Alberta - 4 - Lethbridge, Alta. - Physical Ed. & Rec.
D - Tyrone Downes - York - 4 - Markham, Ont. - Kin. & Health Science
D - Alexandre Haddad - Montreal - 5 - Montreal, Que. - Administration
M - Charles Arsenault - Laval - 4 - Bonaventure, Que. - Business Admin.
M - Marcus Lees - UNB - 3 - Barrie, Ont. - Kinesiology
M - Martin Dabrowski - Ryerson - 5 - Barrie, Ont. - Business Admin.
S - Gagandeep Dosanjh - UBC - 5 - Abbotsford, B.C. - Kinesiology
S - Bezick Evraire - HÂþ» - 5 - Ottawa, Ont. - Arts
S - Dominic Russo - Calgary - 4 - Calgary, Alta. - Arts/Business