2021 AUS men's soccer major award winners and all-stars announced
Cape Breton’s Charlie Waters named AUS MVP
Cape Breton’s Charlie Waters named AUS MVP
(HALIFAX, N.S.) Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2021 men's soccer all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's 10 head coaches following regular season play.
Third-year Cape Breton University striker Charlie Waters of Blackpool, UK has been named the AUS most valuable player, while his Capers teammate Jose Maria Ribeiro de Cunha, of Cascais, Portugal, is the 2021 AUS rookie of the year.
This year's recipient of the AUS student-athlete community service award is third-year Memorial University goalkeeper Dylan Crichton.
And in his seventh year at the helm of the Memorial Sea-Hawks program, Jake Stanford has been selected by his peers as the AUS coach of the year.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Charlie Waters, a third-year striker from the U SPORTS no. 1-ranked Cape Breton Capers, has been named the Atlantic University Sport men's soccer most valuable player.
The Blackpool, UK native helped to lead his Capers to an 8-1-3 record, a second-place finish in the AUS standings and a first-round bye through to Friday's championship semifinals.
An offensive force in the conference and nationally, Waters led both the AUS and U SPORTS in points, with 20 in the regular season. He also leads locally and nationally in assists with 18, more than doubling the next-highest total in the country.
Along with being named AUS MVP, Waters was named an AUS first team all-star. He was named to the AUS second team all-star squad in 2019 and was both a first team all-star and AUS rookie of the year in 2017. He was also named to the U SPORTS all-rookie team and was a second team All-Canadian in 2017.
Waters will now represent the Atlantic conference as the league's nominee for the Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy as the U SPORTS player of the year. Atlantic conference nominees have taken home the honour in 2017, 2014, 2005, 2003, 2001, 1998 and 1996.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Cape Breton Capers defender Jose Maria Ribeiro de Cunha has been chosen by the coaches as the 2021 Atlantic University Sport rookie of the year.
A community studies student from Cascais, Portugal, Ribeiro de Cunha played and started in all 12 regular-season games for the U SPORTS no. 1-ranked Capers this season.
Thanks to great defense, the 2021 Cape Breton squad allowed just six goals against all season, for a goals-against average of 0.70 per game—the best in the conference. The Capers had seven shutouts this season.
Ribeiro de Cunha finished with two goals and one assist for three points.
He becomes the sixth Capers player to be named AUS rookie of the year. Most recently, Isaiah Johnston won the award in 2019. Past Capers winners also include Charlie Waters (2017), Joel Eckert-Ayensa (2015) and Ian Greedy (2010).
Ribeiro de Cunha will now represent the AUS as the conference's nominee for the Lou Bilek Award for U SPORTS rookie of the year. Former UNB standout John Fish was the last AUS men's soccer player to earn national rookie of the year honours. He took home the award in 2004.
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Dylan Crichton, a second-year goalkeeper for the Memorial Sea-Hawks, is the 2021 AUS student-athlete community service award recipient.
A student-athlete studying kinesiology and an Academic All-Canadian, Crichton played and started in nine games for the Sea-Hawks this season.
The Torbay, Newfoundland native had 44 saves in the 2021 regular season and two shutouts.
In 2021, Crichton made a commitment to give back to his local soccer community as a coach and mentor for young boys. A member of the Paradise Soccer Club, which awarded him the top keeper in 2021, he volunteered his time as head coach of the boys under 11 program and will return as a head coach for under 15 boys in 2022.
Crichton is also a volunteer goalkeeper coach with the Newfoundland and Labrador Soccer Association’s under 14 and under 15 teams and has been an instructor for the summer Sea-Hawks soccer camp for the last two seasons.
Outside of soccer, Crichton and his teammates dedicate time to holding food hamper drives for Connection for Seniors, a local non-profit organization in St. John’s. He also participates in Memorial’s Varsity Leadership Athletic Program.
Crichton is the second player from the Memorial Sea-Hawks to receive the men's soccer student-athlete community service award. The last recipient of the award was Andre Le in 2010.
He will now represent the Atlantic conference as the nominee for the national student-athlete community service award. Since the inception of the national award in 2005, AUS student-athletes have claimed the honour 11 times (in 2019, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007 and 2006). Dalhousie’s Gracious Kasheke was the most recent Atlantic recipient in 2019.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Memorial Sea-Hawks head coach, Jake Stanford has been selected by his peers as the AUS men's soccer coach for 2021.
In his seventh season at the helm of the Sea-Hawks program, Stanford guided his team to a 5-4-3 regular-season record, a sixth-place finish in the conference standings and a spot in the AUS playoffs for the first time since 2017.
His Sea-Hawks scored 28 goals in the 2021 regular season, the second-highest total in the AUS.
A Memorial men’s soccer coach has only earned AUS coach of the year honours twice before, in 2004 and 1997 when Scott Betts took home the award.
Stanford now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the U SPORTS coach of the year award. Cape Breton University head coach Deano Morley took home the national honour in 2017 and 2018. Other national award wins by AUS coaches in recent years include Acadia's Findlay MacRae in 2016, UNB's Miles Pinsent in 2012 and StFX's Graham Kennedy in 2010.
FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS
The AUS first and second team all-stars were also announced Wednesday. They are as follows:
First Team All-Stars:
Keeper - Seamus MacDonald, StFX University (4th year—Antigonish, N.S.)
Defender - Euan Bauld, Cape Breton University (4th year—Musselburgh, UK)
Defender - Josh Read, StFX University (5th year—Bath, UK)
Defender - Jose Maria Ribeiro de Cunha, Cape Breton University (1st year—Cascais, Portugal)
Midfielder - Nick Aquino, StFX University (4th year, Dartmouth, N.S.)
Midfielder - Cian Tousignant-O’Siadhail, Saint Mary's University (4th year—Timberlea, N.S.)
Midfielder - Kyle Cordeiro, StFX University (1st year, Oakville, ON)
Striker - Charlie Waters, Cape Breton University (3rd year—Blackpool, UK)
Striker - Emmanuel Dolo, Memorial University (1st year—St. John’s, NL)
Striker - Kairo Coore, Cape Breton University (2nd year—Whitby, ON)
Striker - Grant Takacs, University of New Brunswick (4th year—Woodstock, ON)
Second Team All-Stars:
Keeper - Aiden Rushenas, Dalhousie University (1st year—Toronto, ON)
Defender - Lewis Dye, StFX University (3rd year—Fall River, N.S.)
Defender - Harry Carter, Memorial University (3rd year—St. John’s, NFLD)
Defender - Tom Pheulpin, University of New Brunswick (5th year—San Antonio, Texas)
Midfielder - Mathew Quigley, University of New Brunswick (5th year—Chester Basin, N.S.)
Midfielder - Raine Lyn, Cape Breton University (2nd year—Oakville, ON)
Midfielder - Nathan Chow, University of Prince Edward Island (2nd year—Campbell River, B.C.)
Midfielder - Sumit Malik, Saint Mary's University (4th year—Dartmouth, N.S.)
Midfielder - Luke Berryman, Dalhousie University (1st year—Halifax, N.S.)
Striker - Jacob Grant, Memorial University (2nd year—St. John’s, NL)
Striker - Sean Freeman, Saint Mary's University (1st year—Halifax, N.S.)
The 2021 Subway AUS Soccer Championships presented by Bell will be hosted by Cape Breton University in Sydney, Nova Scotia, November 4-7.
Click here for the men’s championship schedule.
Click here for final AUS men’s soccer standings.
All games of the championship will available via webcast at www.AUStv.ca.
The AUS champion will earn two berths in the U SPORTS men’s soccer championship being hosted by Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, November 18-21. For more information on the national men’s soccer championship, please visit the U SPORTS website.