2021 AUS women's soccer major award winners and all-stars announced
Memorial’s Holly O’Neill named AUS MVP
Memorial’s Holly O’Neill named AUS MVP
(HALIFAX, N.S.) Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2021 women's soccer all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's 10 head coaches following regular season play.
Fifth-year Memorial University striker Holly O’Neill of St. John’s, Newfoundland has been named the AUS most valuable player for 2021.
Dalhousie midfielder Megan Chiasson, of Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia is this season’s AUS rookie of the year while her teammate, Holly Buckler of Halifax, Nova Scotia, is the recipient of the 2021 AUS student-athlete community service award.
And in his 7th year leading the Memorial Sea-Hawks women’s soccer program, Mike Power has been chosen by his peers as the AUS coach of the year for the second time in his career.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Holly O’Neill, a fifth-year striker from the U SPORTS no. 10-ranked Memorial Sea-Hawks, has been named the Atlantic University Sport women's soccer most valuable player.
The St. John’s, Newfoundland forward helped to lead the Sea-Hawks to a 10-2-0 record, a first- place finish in the AUS standings and a first-round playoffs bye through to Friday's championship semifinals.
O’Neill finished the 2021 regular season with 12 goals, making her the AUS scoring leader and tying her for third in U SPORTS goal-scoring. Her 12 goals in a single-season rank third in school history behind Jessie Noseworthy (14) and Laura Breen (13). She also led the AUS in points, with 13 and the nation with six game-winning goals.
Along with being named AUS MVP, O’Neill was also named an AUS first team all-star.
She will now represent the Atlantic conference as the league's nominee for the Chantal Navert Memorial Award as the U SPORTS player of the year. Two Atlantic conference nominees have won the national award, UPEI’s Amy Connolly in 2005 and Cape Breton’s Sarah Drake in 2002.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Dalhousie Tigers midfielder, Megan Chiasson of Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia has been selected by the coaches as the 2021 Atlantic University Sport rookie of the year.
A first-year science student, Chiasson played in 12 regular-season games for the Tigers this season, getting the start in 11 of them.
The sixth-place Dalhousie Tigers—who finished the regular-season with a 4-3-5 record—led the AUS in shutouts, with seven, and finished fourth in goals scored with 19. Chiasson added one goal to the team effort.
She becomes the sixth Dalhousie player to be named AUS rookie of the year. Recent recipients of the award include Kate Fines (2017) and Jeanette Huck (2006).
Chiasson will now represent the AUS as the conference's nominee for the U SPORTS rookie of the year. The last two national rookie of the year awards have gone to Atlantic players: Cape Breton’s Alliyah Row in 2019 and Erin Freeman in 2018.
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Holly Buckler, a fifth-year defender with the Dalhousie Tigers, is the 2021 AUS student-athlete community service award recipient.
A student in Dalhousie’s Master of Science in occupational therapy program, Buckler played and started in all 12 games for the Tigers this season.
The Halifax, Nova Scotia native is a leader in both the classroom and her community, achieving five A+s and four As in her last full academic year. She also received the FGS Second Round Allocation Scholarship for top students entering the second year of Dalhousie’s OT program.
Buckler is a student representative on the Nova Scotia Society of Occupational Therapists, where she attends board meetings, organizes events and advocates for student learning opportunities. She is also a past volunteer with MotionballU—where she helped to raise over $7,000 for Special Olympics Canada—with the Special Olympics Nova Scotia Winter Games and at a nursing home in Wolfville, N.S.
Buckler is the third player from the Dalhousie Tigers to receive the women's soccer student-athlete community service award. Other Dalhousie winners are Sydney Kenney in 2019 and Scarlett Smith in 2016. She will now represent the Atlantic conference as the nominee for the national student-athlete community service award. The most recent AUS student-athlete to win the national award was Kenney in 2019.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Memorial Sea-Hawks head coach Mike Power has been selected by his peers as the AUS women's soccer coach of the year for the second time in his career. He previously won this award in 2016.
In his seventh season as the head coach of the Sea-Hawks women’s program, Power led his team to a 10-2-0 regular-season record, winning seven straight matches to close out the regular season and earn a first-place finish in the conference standings along with a first-round bye to Friday’s championship semifinal. Memorial led the AUS in both scoring—with 29 goals in the regular-season—and shooting percentage (.203) and recorded six shutouts.
Power is the second women’s soccer coach from Memorial to earn AUS coach of the year honours, his 2016 win followed Andy Cameron in 1997.
He now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the U SPORTS coach of the year award. Cape Breton University head coach Stephen “Ness” Timmons took home the national honour in 2017, 2012 and 2000 while UPEI’s Mike Redmond was honoured in 2010 and 2004.
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 - Haley Kardas, Cape Breton University (3rd year—Halifax, N.S.)
Defender - Lauren Jodrey, Acadia University (3rd year—Bedford, N.S.)
Defender - Fatou Ndiaye, Cape Breton University (4th year— Pierrfonds, QC)
Defender - Briana Pender, Memorial University (4th year—St. John’s NL)
Midfielder - Riley Donovan, Dalhousie University (3rd year—Toronto, ON)
Midfielder - Madicynn Harnish, Acadia University (4th year—Lower Sackville, N.S.)
Midfielder - Lauren Taylor, Memorial University (4th year—St. John’s, NL)
Striker - Holly O'Neill, Memorial University (5th year—St. John’s, NL)
Striker - Amanda Smith, StFX University (3rd year—Ottawa, ON)
Striker - Amanda Piltzmaker, Mount Allison University (4th year—Ottawa, ON)
Striker - Alliyah Rowe, Cape Breton University (2nd year—Kitchener, ON)
Second Team All-Stars:
Keeper - Sydney Walsh, Memorial University (4th year—St. John’s, NL)
Defender - Abby Steen, StFX University (1st year—Stittsville, ON)
Defender - Madison Lavers, Cape Breton University (4th year—Halifax, N.S)
Defender - Mya Harnish, Acadia University (2nd year—Halifax, N.S.)
Defender - Holly Buckler, Dalhousie University (5th year—Halifax, N.S.)
Midfielder - Grace Longley, Acadia University (2nd year—Bedford, N.S.)
Midfielder - Megan Chiasson, Dalhousie University (1st year—Lower Sackville, N.S.)
Midfielder - Jesse Bellamy, University of New Brunswick (4th year—St. Catharines, ON)
Midfielder - Kamryn Brimicombe, Saint Mary's University (2nd year—Waverley, N.S.)
Midfielder - Lauren Clark, University of Prince Edward Island (4th year—Charlottetown, PEI)
Striker - Claire Langille, Memorial University (1st year—Windsor Junction, 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 women’s championship schedule.
Click here for final AUS women’s soccer standings.
All games of the championship will available via webcast at www.AUStv.ca.
The AUS will earn two berths in the U SPORTS women’s soccer championship being hosted by Cape Breton University in Sydney, N.S., November 18-21. For more information on the national soccer championship, please visit the U SPORTS website.