T'BIRDS FRAZAO VOTED PLAYER OF THE YEAR, SPARTANS WITH SEVEN ALL-STARS, ROXBURGH NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR

L-R: Mobilio, Boyd, Funk, Roxburgh, Dietrich, O'Driscoll, Castillo, Gerig, Webber

Canada West Universities
Athletic Association

2011-12 Canada West Media Release

Thursday, November 3, 2011

T'BIRDS FRAZAO VOTED PLAYER OF THE YEAR,
SPARTANS WITH SEVEN ALL-STARS, ROXBURGH NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR

LANGLEY, British Columbia – UBC Thunderbirds third-year forward Janine Frazao continued her torrid scoring pace, scoring 16 goals in just 14 games as she claimed Canada West women’s soccer Player of the Year honours.

Overall, Frazao had 17 points to lead the conference as the Port Moody, B.C. native helped the T’Birds to an 11-1-2 record, good for second place and a spot at this weekend’s Final Four tournament . She scored in nine different games, with UBC going 9-0-0 in those contests. Twice she had a hat trick (three goals) and at the conference level Frazao was named Athlete of the Week on two occasions. In 2010 Frazao was a Second team All-Star.

“Janine has just continued to develop and improve as a player,” said UBC head coach Mark Rogers. “In each of her three seasons, she’s had a very impressive goal scoring record, culminating in this season. I think she’s well-deserving of the award.”

Also from the UBC Thunderbirds is Rookie of the Year, goalkeeper Allyssa Williamson.

Williamson had a memorable debut season for the T’Birds, recording eight wins in 11 matches, all by shutout. Her eight clean sheets were the most in the Canada West this season.

“Ally has come in and done a remarkable job,” said Rogers. “The amount of clean sheets and the lack of goals she conceded was very impressive and she made some very impressive saves along the way.”

Williamson, a native of Langley, B.C., also led the league in save percentage and goals against average. Fourth-year Alberta Pandas midfielder and Nursing student Carleigh Miller is the conference nominee for the CIS Student-Athlete Award. Miller was also named a conference First Team All-Star after scoring one goal and earning two assists in playing all 14 games this season.

“Carleigh is a great ambassador for soccer in Edmonton and surrounding areas, as well as the Canada West and CIS. It is remarkable that she has such a high presence as a varsity athlete, as a scholar, and as a community member,” said Pandas head coach Liz Jepsen.

Miller’s volunteer contributions over her four years at the U of A are comprehensive: she has dedicated time to youth soccer, Special Olympics, the Stollery Children’s Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, and the University Athletics Board. She is a two-time CIS Academic All-Canadian nod, and was recently a member of the 2011 FISU games team.

Graham Roxburgh of the Trinity Western Spartans has been voted conference Coach of the Year by his peers.
For the second time in his 12-year career leading the Spartans Roxburgh has earned the Canada West Coach of the Year award, after he led the Spartans to a program best 12-1-1 regular season record, which included a 13-game undefeated streak to end the 2011 season. He previously won the Canada West Coach of the Year honours in 2009.

“What a special honour for Graham to be selected by his peers for this prestigious award. Graham has set the standard for coaching excellence at TWU in a number of areas under our Complete Champion Approach™,” commented TWU Director of Athletics Murray Hall. “He has built a quality expert-based staff around him, and recruited top student athletes who fit the high performance - high character culture he demands.”

Since Roxburgh took over as head coach in 1999, he has guided the Spartans to three CIS National Championships (2004, 2008 and 2009), three Canada West gold medals (2004, 2006 and 2009) and a record of 139-63-38 in CIS play.

Taking home the Fair Play Award for sportsmanship are the Victoria Vikes.

Among the All-Stars is Trinity Western’s Melissa Mobilio, who earns her fourth selection after being named in 2007, 2009 and 2010. For teammates Elizabeth Hudon and Daneila Fuenzalida of Saskatchewan this is their third all-conference appearance. TWU’s Natalie Boyd, along with Heather Lund, Shalla Kadima and Carleigh Miller of Alberta each made the CIS All-Canadian team last season. Natalie Hirayama, now a senior for UBC, was Canada West Rookie of the Year back in 2007 and made the all- conference roster in 2010.

Following is a list of 2011 Canada West women’s soccer Awards & All-Stars:

Awards

Player of the Year: Janine Frazao, UBC
Rookie of the Year: Allyssa Williamson, UBC
Student-Athlete Award: Carleigh Miller, Alberta
Coach of the Year: Graham Roxburgh, Trinity Western
Fair Play Award: Victoria Vikes

All-Stars

First Team                                                          Second Team
Goalkeeper    Kristen Funk, Trinity Western          Ally Williamson, UBC

Fullbacks       Kelly Cook, UBC                            Amy Lawrence, Victoria
                    Shalla Kadima, Alberta                   Jilian Dietrich, Trinity Western
                    Jennifer Castillo, Trinity Western    Alisha Penev, UBC
                    Colleen Webber, Trinity Western    Vanessa Graham, Calgary

Midfielders    Jaclyn Sawicki, Victoria                   Elise Emmott, Alberta
                   Melissa Mobilio, Trinity Western     Natalie Hirayama, UBC
                   Natalie Boyd, Trinity Western         Daniela Fuenzalida, Saskatchewan
                   Carleigh Miller, Alberta                    Sarah Benson, Calgary

Strikers        Janine Frazao, UBC                       Daniela Gerig, Trinity Western
                  Heather Lund, Alberta                     Elizabeth Hudon, Saskatchewan

This weekend the Trinity Western Spartans host the Canada West Final Four, November 4-5 in Langley, B.C. The Alberta Pandas and UBC Thunderbirds play in one semifinal, while the Spartans and Victoria Vikes play in the other. The final goes on Saturday and semifinal winners both advance to CIS Nationals.

All matches this weekend will have live stats available at www.canadawest.tv.

Major award winners now become finalists for Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national awards, to be handed out at the end of the season. The 2011 women’s soccer national championship will be hosted November 10-13 by McGill University in Montreal.

David Bandla, Communications Canada West Athletics www.canadawest.org / www.canadawest.tv “cwuaa” on Twitter

About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles every year, 1997 to 2010. Comprised of 16 schools from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada West produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games.

A proud member of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).

Last Updated: 2011-11-03
Author: Mark Janzen