Nickerson, Wambolt & Ross named to AUS All-Star team

(HALIFAX, N.S.) Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2017 women's soccer all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's 10 head coaches following regular season play.

Three Acadia players were named to the AUS All-Star squads this season. Perenial All-Star defender Emily Nickerson was named as a first team All-Star. Katie Ross, a fifth year midfielder  was named to the second team All-Star squad along with teammate Nicole Wambolt.

Third-year Cape Breton Capers midfielder Ciera Disipio has been named the AUS most valuable player.

The AUS rookie of the year is Dalhousie's Kate Fines of Halifax, N.S.

Claire Skanes, a fifth-year Memorial Sea-Hawks defender from St. John's, N.L., is this year's recipient of the AUS student-athlete community service award.

And in his 22^nd year at the helm of the Capers program, Ness Timmons has been selected by his peers as the AUS coach of the year for the seventh time in his career.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Ciera Disipio, Cape Breton University

Ciera Disipio, a third-year midfielder with the Cape Breton Capers, is the 2017 AUS women's soccer most valuable player.

A community studies student from Ottawa, Ont., Disipio led the Capers to an undefeated 11-0-1 regular season record.

She finished first in the conference and fourth in the nation in points this season with 17, scoring 11 goals and adding six assists. She also led the league in game-winning goals, with four.

In her third year of eligibility, Disipio has accumulated 20 career regular season goals, and 33 points. She was named AUS rookie of the year in her inaugural season with Capers in 2015.

She has also been named an AUS first team all-star today for the first time in her career.

Disipio is the fifth player from a Capers squad to be named the conference's most valuable player. Previous Cape Breton winners have included Karolyne Blain (2013 and 2014), Kristina Weatherbie (2007), Natalie Cullen (2003), and Sarah Drake (2002).

Only two Atlantic conference athletes have taken home the Chantal Navert Memorial Award as CIS (now U SPORTS) player of the year. UPEI's Amy Connolly took home the honour in 2005 and Cape Breton's Sarah Drake was the 2002 recipient.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Kate Fines, Dalhousie University

Dalhousie Tigers keeper Kate Fines has been chosen by the coaches as the 2017 Atlantic University Sport rookie of the year.

An arts student from Halifax, N.S., she started in all 12 regular season games in her freshman season.

Fines led the Tigers to a 7-3-2 record this season, and a third-place finish in the AUS standings.

In her rookie season, Fines allowed just seven goals against, finishing with a goals against average of 0.58—good enough for fifth in the conference.

Her .905 save percentage placed her in third in the conference, and fifth in the nation.

Fines becomes the fifth freshman from a Tigers squad to take home AUS rookie of the year honours, and the first in 11 years. Previous Dalhousie winners have included Jeanette Huck (2006), Mary-Beth Bowie (1997), Kate Gillspie (1991), and Belinda Campbell (1990).

Fines will now represent the Atlantic conference as the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS rookie of the year award.

The only AUS players to be honoured as the national rookie of the year are Cape Breton's Michelle Desjardins in 2000 and Dalhousie's Mary-Beth Bowie in 1997.

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Claire Skanes, Memorial University

Fifth-year defender Claire Skanes of the Memorial Sea-Hawks is the 2017 student-athlete community service award recipient.

This is the fourth time a member of a Memorial squad has earned the honour since the award's inception in 2006.

Skanes is an exemplary student-athlete, balancing athletics, academics and extensive community involvement. The engineering student excels in the classroom, with a current GPA of 4.0, and a cumulative GPA of 3.97.

Her involvement in the community is extensive. Since January 2016, she has been volunteering with the Easter Seals Swimming Program once a week, teaching children with disabilities how to swim.

She is also a home volunteer with Newfoundland and Labrador's Ronald McDonald House. At the Ronald McDonald House, Skanes helps with organizing the house, along with providing assistance to the families and permanent staff, and helps with the 'Just Like Nan's' and 'Home for Dinner' programs.

Skanes served as Vice President External for Memorial University's Engineering Society from 2014 to 2016, during which time she acted as the liaison between Memorial's engineering society and all other engineering societies across the country. She collaborated and developed ideas and frameworks to improve initiatives such as student orientation and high school outreach, and helped organize and execute numerous volunteer events. 

In addition to her volunteering contributions in Newfoundland and Labrador, Skanes travelled to Ecuador with ME to WE for two weeks in 2014 to help a village build a schoolhouse and further develop a water drainage system.

"Claire is a very high achiever, whose leadership and output radiates through our team and further," said Sea-Hawks head coach Mike Power. "She has raised the bar for balancing athletics, academics, and the importance of giving back to the community."

Skanes is now the AUS nominee for the national student-athlete community service award.

An Atlantic conference student-athlete has received the national honour six times, with Skanes' teammate Jessie Noseworthy earning the honour in 2015. Other Atlantic conference winners include Caoimhe MacParland (2014), Alana Fairfax (2012), Cathleen Bleakney (2011), Samantha Hanford (2010), and Ally Read (2006).

COACH OF THE YEAR: Ness Timmons, Cape Breton University

Cape Breton Capers head coach Ness Timmons has been chosen by his peers as the 2017 AUS coach of the year.

This marks the seventh time coach Timmons has been selected as the conference's top coach in his 22 seasons at the helm of the Capers program. He has previously taken home the honour in 2013, 2012, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000.

This year, he guided the Capers to an undefeated 11-0-1 regular season record and first-place in the AUS standings. With this, they secured a first-round bye to Friday's semifinals.

Timmons' squad led the country in goals with 50, and goals per game with an average of 4.17.

With just four goals against this regular season, they recorded a goals against average of 0.33—good for best in the conference and third best in the nation.

Under Timmons' leadership, the Capers have claimed eight of the past 14 AUS championship titles and were national champions in 2007.

Timmons now becomes the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS coach of the year award. He previously received the national honour in both 2012 and 2000.

FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS

The 2017 AUS women's soccer first and second team all-stars are as follows:

First Team AUS All-Stars
Keeper – Kate Fines, Dalhousie (1^st year – Halifax, N.S.)
Defender - Emily Nickerson, Acadia (5^th year – Berwick, N.S.)
Defender – Taylor Goodwin, Dalhouse (4^th year – Hammonds Plains, N.S.)

Defender - Robyn Novorolsky, Cape Breton (5^th year – Richmond Hill, Ont.)
Midfielder – Ciera Disipio, Cape Breton (3^rd year – Ottawa, Ont.)
Midfielder – Tamara Brown, Cape Breton (5^th year – Whitby, Ont.)
Midfielder – Jane Pope, Memorial (5^th year – St. John's, N.L.)
Midfielder – Larissa White, StFX (2^nd year – Westphal, N.S.)

Striker – Keona Simmonds, Cape Breton (4^th year – Brampton, Ont.)
Striker – Jessie Noseworthy, Memorial (5^th year – St. John's, N.L.)
Striker – Catherine Dupuis, Moncton (1^st year – St-Mathias, Que.)

Second Team AUS All-Stars 
Keeper – Sydney Walsh, Memorial (1^st year – St. John's, N.L.)
Defender - Nicole Wambolt, Acadia (4^th year – Hammonds Plains, N.S.)

Defender - Keisha Younge, Memorial (4^th year – Mount Pearl, N.L.)
Defender – Becky Hanna, Cape Breton, (4^th year – Howie Centre, N.S.)
Midfielder – Katie Ross, Acadia (5^th year – Bedford, N.S.)

Midfielder – Mercy Myles, StFX (2^nd year – Accra, Ghana)

Midfielder – Alyssa Armstrong, Cape Breton (5^th year – St. John's, N.L.)

Midfielder – Teri Murphy, Memorial (4^th year – St. John's, N.L.)

Midfielder - Maya Venkataraman, Dalhousie (2^nd year, Summerland, B.C.)

Midfielder – Rachelle Lalande, Dalhousie (3^rd year, Halifax, N.S.)

Striker – Chloe Brennan, StFX (4^th year – Brookside, N.S.)

************************

The 2017 Subway AUS Women's Soccer Championship will be hosted by St. Francis Xavier University at Oland Stadium in Antigonish, N.S. Nov. 2 to 5, 2017.    

The championship schedule is as follows:

Thursday, Nov. 2
Quarterfinal #1: StFX (5^th) vs. Acadia (4^th), 4 p.m.
Quarterfinal #2: UNB (6^th) vs. Dalhousie (3^rd), 7 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 3
Semifinal #1: Lowest Remaining Seed vs. Cape Breton (1^st), 4 p.m.
Semifinal #2: Highest Remaining Seed vs. Memorial (2^nd), 7 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 5
Championship Game: Semifinal #1 Winner vs. Semifinal #2 Winner, 2 p.m.

*Note: All games of the championship will be available via webcast, live at www.AUStv.ca.

Final AUS women's soccer standings:
http://atlanticuniversitysport.com/sports/wsoc/2017-18/standings

The Atlantic University Sport conference receives one berth at the 2017 U SPORTS women's soccer championship being hosted by the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Man. Nov. 9 to 12, 2017.

The berth will be awarded to the AUS championship winner.   

For more information on the national women's soccer championship, please visit the official website at: https://usports.ca/en/championships/soccer/f.