VANCOUVER – With the conference post-season set to begin on Friday, the Canada West honoured its top performers from the regular season with the announcement of its 2021 men's soccer all-stars and all-rookies.
The Alberta Golden Bears saw all three of their student-athletes crack the Canada West first all-star team, the most of any program.
Noah Cunningham (goalkeeper), Carlos Patino (defensive), and Ajeej Sarkaria (attacking) were all named to the fist team after their performances on the pitch this season helped Alberta to a 4-1-5 record.
The Victoria Vikes, Mount Royal Cougars, and Calgary Dinos all had two players selected as first team all-stars.
The Mount Royal Cougars led the overall all-star tally, having six players selected as all-stars or all-rookies. Two Cougars appear on each of the conference's first team, second team and all-rookie teams.
The Cougars were led by Mohamed El Gandour, who made the Canada West first team for the second straight season. The third-year forward led the conference in scoring this season with eight goals.
The all-star and all-rookie teams were selected by the conference's 12 men's soccer head coaches.
FIRST TEAM
Goalkeeper
Jake Ruschkowski / Calgary / 4 / Calgary, AB / Engineering
Defending players
Evan Libke / Victoria / 5 / North Vancouver, BC / Education
Justin Anderson-Louch / Mount Royal / 5 / Calgary, AB / Business
Jan Pirretas Glasmacher / Thompson Rivers / 4 / Barcelona, ESP / Business
Adam Huskic / Calgary / 4 / Cazin, BIH / Engineering
Noah Cunningham / Alberta / 5 / St. Albert, AB / Grad Studies & Research
Attacking players
Mohamed El Gandour / Mount Royal / 3 / Calgary, AB / Business
Isaac Koch / Victoria / 5 / West Kelowna, BC / Education
Ajeej Sarkaria / Alberta / 5 / Edmonton, AB / Agriculture, Life, and Env. Sciences
Trevor Zanatta / Fraser Valley / 3 / Coquitlam, BC / Criminal Justice
Carlos Patino / Alberta / 3 / Tulua, COL / Arts
SECOND TEAM
Goalkeeper
Nicholas Reitsma / UBC Okanagan / 4 / Kelowna, BC / Medicine
Defending players
Ryan Donald / Fraser Valley / 5 / Surrey, BC / Business Admin
Christopher Lee / UBC / 1 / West Vancouver, BC / Kinesiology
Caden Rogozinski / Mount Royal / 1 / Calgary, AB / Business
Brandon Torresan / Trinity Western / 1 / North Vancouver, BC / GENBA
Aaron Hidalgo-Mazzei / Saskatchewan / 2 / Winnipeg, MB / Kinesiology
Attacking players
Christian Rossi / Trinity Western / 1 / Surrey, BC / HKIN
Nikolas Baikas / Saskatchewan / 3 / Saskatoon, SK / Business
Tristan Torresan / Trinity Western / 2 / North Vancouver, BC / BUSBA
Dane Domic / Mount Royal / 2 / Calgary, AB / Communications
James Fraser / Thompson Rivers / 5 / Penticton, BC / Business
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Christian Rossi / Trinity Western / Surrey, BC / HKIN
Kundai Dziwa / Calgary / Calgary, AB / Engineering
Akwasi Agyekum / Thompson Rivers /
Caden Rogozinkski / Mount Royal / Calgary, AB / Business
Brandon Torresan / Trinity Western / North Vancouver, BC / GENBA
Alvin Mazaheri / MacEwan / Copenhagen, DEN / Commerce
Thomas Spiess / Fraser Valley / Nuremburg, GER / Business Admin
Gareth Smith-Doyle / Calgary / Science
Bennett McKay / UBC / Delta, BC / Arts
Ethan Keen / Mount Royal / Calgary, AB / Business
Christopher Lee / UBC / West Vancouver, BC / Kinesiology
The Canada West post-season begins Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. with the Alberta Golden Bears (Central No. 2 / 4-1-5) hosting the Fraser Valley Cascades (West No. 3 / 4-3-5) in quarter-final action.
On Saturday, the Mount Royal Cougars (Central No. 1 / 6-1-3) play host to the Thompson Rivers WolfPack (West No. 4 / 4-3-5) at 1:00 p.m., while the Victoria Vikes (West No. 1 / 6-3-5) welcome in the MacEwan Griffins (Central No. 4 (4-4-2) at 6:00 p.m.
The fourth quarter-final matchup between the UBC Thunderbirds (West No. 2 / 4-2-6) and Calgary Dinos (Central No. 3 / 4-2-4) is set for 1:00 p.m. Sunday in Vancouver.
All four quarter-final matches will be available on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.
